Oct. 28, 2005
The University of Texas - Pan American women's volleyball team defeated the Utah Valley State Wolverines in five sets (30-28, 25530, 25-30, 30-26, 15-13) on Friday (Oct. 28) at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Tonight's victory marked the last home match of the season for the Lady Broncs as they ran their record at home to 6-2 and 8-14 overall. The Wolverines fell back under .500 with the loss with a 10-11 record.
"It was great to send our seniors out with a win. This wasn't the same team that played Utah Valley State the first time. Tonight was a great confidence boost to be able to pull out a close match against a good team," said head coach Dave Thorn.
The two seniors on the squad who played their last home match at UTPA both finished with double digit kills for the night. Danielle Holthe (Covina, CA/Bishop Amat Memorial H.S.) notched 14 kills along with two block solos and two block assists. Stephanie Redd (Seguin, TX/Seguin H.S.) recorded 10 kills to go with three block assists.
Junior Heather Bravo (Las Vegas, NV/Durango H.S.) paced the offense with a double-double (kills-digs), recording a match-high 19 kills to go along with 19 digs. Newcomer Kellie Phillips (Chandler, AZ/Corona del Sol H.S.) also added her third-straight double-double (kills-digs) with 14 and 17 respectively.
"I was really impressed with [Heather] tonight. She stepped out with an injury and was able to come back with confidence. She's an undersized outside hitter but she's always done a tremendous job for us," added Thorn.
Freshman Chelsea Blakely (Houston, TX/J. Frank Dobie H.S.) ended the night with a match-high 61 assists while also amassing 10 digs for the double-double (assists-digs). Chrissie Carrigan (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Mount Douglass S.S.) once again led the Lady Broncs in digs with a team-high 21.
UTPA out-hit Utah Valley State .155-.135 and finished with 67 assists compared to the Wolverines 56. UVSC held a slight advantage over the Lady Broncs in digs, 93-91, and blocks, 11-10.
The Wolverines were led by Anne Olsen who recorded 18 kills while Lacee Koelliker ended the night with 51 assists. Defensively, Chelsea O'Neal paced UVSC with a match-high 24 digs.
The Lady Broncs next match will be on the road at Texas A&M - Kingsville on Thursday (Nov. 3) at 7:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information