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OREM — Utah Valley had the best record in the state of Utah, but had lost six consecutive matches to Weber State dating back to 2017.
Playing three in-state games this week, Utah Valley was put to the test to improve their 7-2 record in one of the best starts in its program history.
After falling behind in all four sets, Utah Valley's resilience — described by head coach Sam Atoa — was key in their 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 29-27, 25-23) victory over the Wildcats.
"Resilence," Atoa said. "There were definitely some emotions involved, because it wasn't just your own family against family, it was teammates, old teammates, high school teammates and just the Utah rivalry kind of brings out. Doesn't matter how poorly or how good somebody's playing, you expect that there's going to be a battle. That's how it's going to be all week."
The key to the win for Utah Valley? A freshman.
Sami Blackett, the freshman outside hitter who grew up in Orem, scored the final six points for the Wolverines, five on kills, to win Utah Valley the match in the fourth set.
"It's been fun to be able to watch her," Atoa said. "She's going to make a ton of mistakes, and then she's going to grow from that and keep getting better; and you saw that today, where there was some of those balls that kind of got away from her. She kind of came through there at the end, and then I was really proud of how she's learning to harness those emotions and be able to execute the way that she's capable of being able to do."
"This team is so fun, and it's so good just being able to trust everyone, and on the last couple of points I just kind of got on a roll," Blackett said. "Whenever I get going, it's kind of hard to stop me."
Blackett finished the game with a game-high and career-tying 22 kills, with the closest being Ashley Gneiting of Weber State at 14. Blackett also contributed six digs and hit .211 for the match.
The two teams found themselves fairly evenly matched in the first set, tied at 10-10 before Utah Valley went on a 5-2 run at the first media timeout. The Wolverines were focusing on finesse instead of power for its kills, hitting .467 midway through the set.
Despite its early lead, the Wildcats went on a run of their own to take a 17-16 lead over the home Wolverines.
But the Wolverines bounced back.
Utah Valley used a crucial 6-0 run to pull ahead 22-17 and eventually win the set 25-22 to give them a 1-0 lead over the visiting Wildcats.
The Wolverines had 15 kills in the set, with eight of them coming from junior outside hitter Avery Shewell, who played just one set due to injury concern.
Weber State opened the second set jumping out to a 5-0 lead and prompting a timeout by Atoa.
After taking an 11-2 lead, Weber State had solidified a large lead that continued to be too much for the Wolverines, winning the second set 25-20.
The Wolverines did make it closer than it should have been, trailing 23-18 at one point, but five service errors in the set proved to be detrimental to any sort of real comeback.
The third set proved to be much more competitive on both sides, with the lead going back and forth throughout the set. Through the first media timeout, Weber State held a 15-14 lead with the Wolverines looming to strike.
But Weber State went on another large run, taking a 20-16 lead and forcing Utah Valley to use a timeout to regroup. The back-and-forth theme of the set had the Wolverines climb within 2 points, trailing 22-20, and eventually taking a 23-22 lead.
Utah Valley had match point at 24-23 and seemed to win the set on a ball that went long, but the officials said it was touched by a Wolverines player. The play was reviewed and deemed correct and knotted the game up at 24-24.
A strong set came to close with Utah Valley coming from behind to win 29-27.
In the fourth set, Weber jumped to another quick lead at 9-3, which meant Utah Valley was playing behind yet again. The Wolverines found themselves down 14-11 before surrendering its 12th service error of the match, which haunted them in the second set.
Utah Valley trimmed the lead to 21-20, setting the fourth set up for another dramatic finish. The Wolverines turned to the freshman to seal the victory, scoring six consecutive points to win the final set 25-23.
Utah Valley (8-2) will travel to Logan to take on Utah State (2-6) before the Wolverines return south to play at No. 19 BYU (4-3) on Saturday evening.
