ST. GEORGE — Utah Tech University volleyball came from behind after dropping the first two sets to earn a five-set victory over Tennessee State Saturday afternoon.
“I loved the way our girls fought back today,” said head coach Camilla Hafoka, according to the Utah Tech athletics web site. “We were down two sets and they got gritty and made the adjustments to make that ome back. It was a great win for the team.”
Tennessee State captured the momentum early in the first set by jumping out to an early four-point lead over Utah Tech. The Trailblazers (5-2 overall) pushed back but could never catch the Tigers as the first set ended 25-18.
In the second set, the Trailblazers found a groove and were able to hang with the Tigers, keeping the score within one point. Utah Tech jumped out to a 14-11 lead but TSU went on a big run to take the second set 25-15.
Utah Tech came out fighting in the third set, sticking with TSU for a tied score of 7-7. Whittnee Nihipali came up with a kill that sparked a 9-2 Trailblazer run to push Utah Tech to a 16-9 lead. TSU tried to gain some momentum scoring three consecutive points, but UT was not deterred in the final points of the set.
With a 22-16 lead, UT finished with three straight points thanks to a kill by Chayse Daugherty, a TSU error and a service ace by Taela Laufiso. UT claimed the third set with a 25-16 score.
The fourth set patterned similarly to the third. With a tied 11-11 score, Utah Tech went on a 7-0 run that was sparked by a block by Kate Hardy and Daugherty.
This brought the score back within one point, but a Tiger service error killed the TSU momentum. Back-to-back Trailblazer kills by Bridgett Talia and Laufiso brought things to set point and another kill by Talia gave UT the 25-22 fourth set win.
For the second time in the weekend, Utah Tech entered a fifth set. The Trailblazers hit the halfway point first with a narrow one-point lead. However, coming out of the switch, Utah Tech went on a 7-2 run to claim set five 15-9.
Nihipali led the Trailblazers with 14 kills from 37 attacks. Bridgett Talia added 12 kills from 35 attacks. Kate Hardy ended the match with a .438 percentage with eight kills from 16 attacks. Peyton Michaelson also posted a strong hitting percentage with six kills from 10 attacks for a .500.
Laufiso ended the game with 44 assists. This was her second match this season with 40 or more assists in a game.
In total, Utah Tech ended the match with 59 kills from 162 attacks with 20 errors for a .241 percentage.
Utah Tech had three Trailblazers with double-digit digs. Mykenna Nelson, named the Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the week, led with 27 digs while Hardy added 15 and Laufiso had 12. In total the Trailblazersended with 75 digs.
Trailblazers split Friday double dip
Utah Tech battled through a doubleheader Friday after first falling in four sets to California and then later coming back for a big five-set win over Nevada.
“I love the way our team was able to respond after the quick turnaround game against Cal,” Hafoka said.”It was definitely a team win. Everyone did their jobs and it resulted in a great win.”
In the match against Cal, Nihipali led the Trailblazers with 14 kills from 36 attacks. Daugherty also had double-digit kills with 11 from 35 attacks. Taela Laufiso ended the game with a .500 percentage on the night. Her nine kills and 16 attacks are a career high. She also led with 27 assists.
Against Nevada, four Trailblazers hit the double-digit mark on digs. Nelson led with 28 digs while Laufiso followed with 18. Daugherty had 15 while Holt recorded another career high on the night with 14 digs.
In total, UT had 93 digs, the most in a match this season.
For complete match results, click here.