Nov. 7, 2011

UVU Notes vs. SUU and UND

OREM, Utah -- The Utah Valley women's volleyball team will host two key matches at home this week to close out the regular season. The Wolverines will welcome in-state foe Southern Utah to town Tuesday and the Great West Conference title will be on the line Friday when North Dakota comes to town.

Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. and live stats and live video will be available at WolverineGreen.com.

Besides the conference championship being on the line on Friday when the top two teams in the Great West get together with identical 8-1 conference records, it will also be Senior Night as UVU will honor its four departing seniors in Rachel Anderson, Sarah Clement, Chelsey Heaps and Jaicee Kuresa before the match.

The Wolverines (20-8, 8-1 GWC) had their five-match winning streak ended by Boise State last week when they dropped a tight four set contest in Boise. Later in the week UVU made up for the loss however with a 3-0 sweep over in-state rival Utah State at home. Kuresa led the Wolverines in kills in both matches as she tallied 16 against BSU and 13 versus the Aggies, while Clement led the way at the net with a combined 10 block assists in the two contests.

The Wolverines are yet to face the Thunderbirds on the season but they defeated SUU twice a year ago and hold a 4-0 all-time series advantage. UVU also previously beat the Fighting Sioux in Grand Forks, 3-1, on Oct. 1, 2010 but UND currently holds the all-time series advantage 4-2.

About Southern Utah
The T-Birds enter the week with a 9-19 overall record but will face Weber State in Ogden Monday night. SUU is also 6-11 in its final season of Summit League competition before jumping ship to the Big Sky next year. Analaine Mailoto leads SUU in total kills with 460 and kills per set with a solid 4.11 kps average. At the net Cashaana Renfro leads the Thunderbirds with 105 total blocks and a 0.95 block per set average.

About North Dakota
The Fighting Sioux will enter Friday's Great West title deciding showdown with a 24-4 overall record and an 8-1 conference clip. Since the home loss to UVU on Oct. 1, North Dakota has won 12 consecutive matches and in fact the loss to the Wolverines has been UND's only one in their last 20 contests. Offensively Devin Trefz leads the Sioux with 267 kills for a 3.03 kill per set average, while defensively Tia Russell is tops in blocks with 119 (1.18 bps).

UND has won the conference championship the past two seasons, while UVU has taken second place.

Next up for the Wolverines
UVU will head to Grand Forks, N.D., for the 2011 Great West Conference Championships that will take place Nov. 17-19 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.