Utah Valley Faces Utah in First Round of Second Consecutive NCAA Tournament
Utah Valley Faces Utah in First Round of Second Consecutive NCAA Tournament
INDIANAPOLIS – Utah Valley learned that they will be facing Utah in the first round of NCAA Tournament, Friday.
The Wolverines (16-12) earned the WAC's automatic bid by winning the WAC Tournament with a five-set match against the West Division Champions, NM State, in the first round, then proceeded to get sweep wins over Stephen F. Austin in the semifnals and Grand Canyon in the finals.
Utah Valley came into this season with a balanced team that excells in their blocking, topping the WAC with 2.69 blocks per set.
Outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa led the Wolverines to the champioinship when she was named All-Tournament team MVP after recording 10 kills, seven digs and two assists in the championship match. Tanuvasa also stoodout in the regular season, picking up First Team All-WAC honors. With her was middle blocker Sadie Hamson is second top in blocks per set (1.36) in conference play.
Utah (21-8) earned an at-large bid after ending their regular season third in the Pac-12. The Utes were led by outside hitter Dani Drews, who topped the Pac-12 in kills per set with 5.24 and setter Stef Jankiewicz who is fourth in assists per set with 10.46.
The Wolverines will face Utes at Provo, Utah, at 4 p.m. MT, Saturday. Winner of the match will go against the winner of Boise State (24-10) and No. 11 BYU (28-1) that are going head to head later in the day at 7 p.m. MT.
The seeded BYU will be hosting Utah Valley, Utah and Boise State for the first and second rounds of the tournament at the Smith Fieldhouse.
The semifinal and final rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 16 and 18.
2021 NCAA Women's Volleyball Bracket