Kansas City
Utah Valley
UMKC Comeback Falls Short at Utah Valley
10/1/2016 6:58:00 PM | Volleyball
OREM, Utah – Down 2-0 to Utah Valley, UMKC volleyball dug deep to rally back to even the match at two sets apiece, but ultimately fell to the Wolverines 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in Orem, Utah.
UMKC (8-8, 1-2 WAC) trailed the entirety of the first set, as Utah Valley (6-11, 2-2 WAC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. The Wolverines grew their lead to as much as nine points at 18-9 before the Roos did what they could to bring it back. UMKC was only able come as close as seven, and UVU went on to take set one 25-15.
The Roos kept things close in set two, battling with the Wolverines for the length of the game. UMKC went down by three points at 15-12, before rattling off five-straight points, including two kills from senior Madison Mosier (Lee's Summit, Mo.), to take the first lead of the day. The Roos continued to lead until UVU went on a four-point run to move ahead 24-22. UMKC answered back with a kill from senior Emma Hagedorn (Parkville, Mo.), but UVU finished off the set to win 25-23.
Junior Devan Porter (Bettendorf, Iowa) stole the show in the third set for UMKC, recording nine of her season-high 21 kills on 14 attempts to hit .643, powering the Roos to their first win of the match. Not only did she record nine kills, but she added two services aces to her name, for a team-high 11 points in the set. Aiding Porter significantly was senior Kaylyn Brandt (Sumner, Iowa), who notched an astonishing 18 assists in the set.
With the momentum of a 25-19 third set victory, UMKC kept the pressure on the home team, and Hagedorn was a major part of that. The senior took nine total attack attempts in the fourth set, connecting for a kill on seven of them, hitting .778 in the game. Her efforts, paired with three kills from Mosier and Porter each, and 14 assists from Brandt allowed the Roos to even the match at two sets each.
UMKC's momentum wasn't enough, however, as they battled with UVU in the final set, going punch-for-punch until the very end. The two teams couldn't have been closer, keeping close all the way to 15-15, until the Wolverines were able to finish the set to win, 17-15.
Along with Porter's season-high 21 kills, Brandt set a season-high with 63 assists.
UMKC returns to Kansas City to face CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon on Oct. 6 and 8, respectively.
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