Box Score

OREM, Utah – Houston Baptist sophomore outside hitter Jasmine Casey, senior outside hitter Heather Leaverton and senior setter Victoria Weatherly each recorded double-doubles as the Huskies overcame a slow start to take down Utah Valley, 3-1 (15-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21), in Great West Conference volleyball Thursday night at the Activity Center.
 
HBU snapped Utah Valley's 16-match home winning streak to take a half-game lead in the conference heading into the final two-and-half weeks of the season. The Huskies have two league matches remaining, both at home, while the Wolverines have three left, one at home and two on the road.
 
“In game one, (Utah Valley) had a lot of energy, it was their Dig Pink night, so they had a big crowd,” HBU head coach Trent Herman said. “I think we were a little shell-shocked, but toward the end of the game we started stabilizing and we saw the girls were OK. After that we just rolled and went after them. Our team was well-balanced offensively, played great defense, so there was no stopping them tonight.”
 
Casey led the Huskies (17-10, 5-1 GWC) with 16 kills and 10 digs for her 10^th double-double of the season, while Leaverton posted her team-leading 13^th of the year with 13 kills and 14 digs. Senior setter Victoria Weatherly had her 11^th double-double with 41 assists, 12 digs and three kills. Sophomore middle blocker Madeline Gaffney added nine kills and three blocks, junior middle blocker Caiti Wenger had seven kills and four blocks and sophomore outside hitter Bailey Keith chipped in with six kills and three blocks. Sophomore libero Esther Longoria paced the Huskies defensively with 17 digs.
 
Erica Nish had 16 kills, and Kalani Norris had 12 kills and 11 digs for Utah Valley (13-8, 4-1). Brooklyn Hall had 39 assists, 13 digs and three kills and Lauren Stringham added seven kills. McKenna Tait had a match-high 18 digs, and Patti Hatch pitched in with 11 for the Wolverines.
 
HBU hit .229 for the match, while Utah Valley hit .191. The Huskies outdug the Wolverines, 68-65, outblocked them, 7-4, and held an 8-5 advantage in service aces.
 
Utah Valley led 9-7 in the first set, but scored four-straight points to increase their lead to six. Leading 14-9, the Wolverines tacked on three more in a row to go up by eight, then extended the advantage to 20-10. Utah Valley went on to win the first set, 25-15. Leaverton had four kills to lead HBU, while Norris and Nish had three each for Utah Valley.
 
“We kept telling them to find their rhythm, we knew we could play with them and once we get going it will be fine,” Herman said of the first set. “(Our players) believed it was going to be our match. We had talked all week about how to attack their block and the hitters did a nice job of that, they really attacked it. Dig-wise, we had them scouted pretty well since we had already played them and we tried to dig a lot of balls – that's a staple for us. If we outdig the other team and play better defense, we always have a chance.”
 
The Huskies answered back in the second and with the score tied 5-5, scored four-straight points to lead 9-5. Utah Valley got back within two at 10-8, but HBU used a three-point spurt to go back up 14-9. Three more points in a row extended the Huskies' advantage to 17-11 and they scored the last three points of the set to even the match with a 25-17 decision. Casey had four kills and Leaverton and Gaffney added three each in the set for HBU, while Nish had seven for Utah Valley.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the third, HBU blitzed Utah Valley with six-straight points to rush ahead, 7-2. Leading 10-6, the Huskies scored six of the next seven points to extend their lead to 16-7. The Wolverines clawed back to within four at 19-15, but the Huskies scored three in a row and won the set, 25-17, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Casey and Gaffney each had four more kills for the  Huskies.
 
HBU led 7-6 in the fourth set, but Utah Valley reeled off six-straight points to lead 12-7. The Huskies responded by scoring the next seven, which included a pair of aces by Longoria, to reclaim the lead, 14-12. HBU had three-point leads on five occasions, including at 22-19, but Utah Valley scored twice to cut the deficit to one at 22-21. HBU then got back-to-back kills from Wenger and a kill by Casey to finish off Utah Valley, 25-21. The Huskies committed only one attack error in the set and Casey led the team with five kills, while Norris had five for the Wolverines.
 
“Having this win is big, but we have to follow it up in our final two matches and set ourselves up for seeding in the conference tournament,” Herman said. “We'll get back to the gym on Monday and go to work – it's just a step toward our ultimate goal.”
 
The Huskies are home at Sharp Gym for their final two matches of the season, when they host NJIT Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m., then against Texas-Pan American Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.