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Utah Valley's Nixan Jackson (25) handles the ball against defense from Tarleton State's Macy Hellwig in a Western Athletic Conference women's soccer match at UCCU Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.

Courtesy UVU Athletics

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Utah Valley's Mia Owens (7) competes for the ball with Tarleton State's Teeghan Dodd in a Western Athletic Conference women's soccer match at UCCU Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.

Courtesy UVU Athletics

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Faith Webber and Nixan Jackson each recorded a brace, while the Utah Valley University defense posted a shutout in a commanding 5-0 victory over Tarleton State in the Western Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night at UCCU Stadium.

With the win, Utah Valley improves to 5-4-1 overall and 1-0-0 in league play.

Tarleton State falls to 6-3-2 and 0-1-0 in WAC action.

“We put together a full 90 minutes tonight,” said UVU head coach Chris Lemay. “I was really happy with the ball movement, our anticipation, and the decisions we made. We had great movement off the ball, which allowed us to create so many chances.”

The Wolverines opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Jackson outran the Tarleton defense down the right side and slotted a pass to Webber in the middle of the box. Webber calmly buried the shot to make it 1-0.

Jackson doubled the advantage in the 26th minute after rebounding a loose ball on the right side of the box, beating her defender, and finishing to the far post. She secured her brace nine minutes later when Bailey Peterson drove down the left side and slipped a pass across the face of goal for Jackson, who finished to extend the lead to 3-0. Webber struck again in the 50th minute after Jackson created space on the right and sent a cross into the box. Ruby Hladek’s initial shot was blocked, but Webber collected the rebound near the top of the box and fired home to make it 4-0.

Hladek then capped the scoring in the 56th minute, dribbling past a defender on the left side and finishing inside the far post to push the lead to 5-0.

“I’m certainly happy with the shutout,” Lemay added. “We’ve been conceding goals, so that’s been a sub-goal of ours — to give up zero. We also found the net a number of times this evening, and we were able to use a lot of players. Everybody who stepped on the field contributed in a positive way.”

Utah Valley outshot Tarleton State 40-2, including a 20-1 advantage on goal. The 40 shots rank as the fifth-most in a single match in program history. Webber led the attack with 14 shots, seven on frame, while Jackson added six shots with five on target. The Wolverines also earned 10 corner kicks to Tarleton’s two.

Utah Valley will continue WAC play at UCCU Stadium on Saturday night against Abilene Christian. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Wolverines throw block party in win against Abilene Christian

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Valley University swept Abilene Christian University, 3-0 28-26, 25-21, 25-14 on Thursday in a match played at Westminster’s Behnken Field House. The Wolverines (5-8, 1-0) tallied 19 total blocks, the most in program history for a three-set match, led by Bella Wooden’s 11. The win marked the first WAC opening win since 2022 for UVU. ACU (6-10) was limited to a .065 hitting percentage by UVU’s stifling defense.

Utah Valley and Abilene Christian engaged in a closely contested first set, with Utah Valley ultimately prevailing 28-26. The balanced play by the Wolverines added them in the set with Avery Page, Sami Blackett and Olivia Gloeckner all recording three kills, but the UVU defense at the net had six total blocks to push them over the top with Gloeckner matching her kill total with three. Wooden, who finished with five points in the first set, dropped in a service ace to give UVU a 20-19 lead. UVU took a 23-21 lead following a kill from Alyssa Erickson and a block assist from Page and Erickson. The Wildcats responded to tie the set before the Wolverines edged out the win with a final block by Jaffa and Gloeckner, sealing the set 28-26.

Utah Valley claimed the second set against ACU with a 25-21 victory, marked by a strong finish. The Wildcats initially led 6-2, aided by two kills from Beaver and a service error from the Wolverines. Utah Valley found momentum through key plays and chipped away at the deficit. They tied the set up at 13 after an ace from Evalyn Chism, who helped UVU take a 15-13 lead while she was serving. Following an Abilene Christian response, Erickson and Page went to work from the front row and helped the home team regain the lead and push it out to 22-18. Page ended the set with a serve to put UVU in the driver’s seat up 2-0.

Utah Valley tallied a team-high eight blocks in the third set to help swing the match in their favor. After the Wildcats had jumped out to a 5-2 lead, the front row defense picked up with Wooden finishing the set with six block assists, Page added four, and two each from Erickson, Gloeckner, and Jaffa. The Wolverines went up 11-8 after a kill from Jaffa before she teamed up with Page and Gloeckner for block assists to put their team in front 15-11. The final five points of the match went to UVU, with Page recording three aces in the stretch to pass Kayli Doxey for third all-time in service aces.

Utah Valley will play Tarleton State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. MT from Smith Fieldhouse at BYU in Provo. The Wolverines will then hit the road for a matchup with Utah Tech on Oct. 4.