UVU volleyball comes up short

HOUSTON — Utah Valley University's bid to win the first-ever Great West Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship fell short with a 21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 18-25 loss to North Dakota in the title match Saturday.

Kayli Broadbent led the Wolverines with 23 kills and eight digs, while Camie Manwill had six kills and six digs, and Chelsea Fa'alogo tallied four kills, six digs and 35 assists in the loss. Allyce Jones led UVU with 26 digs and six assists and Kathleen Stevens added 11 digs.

"Hats off to North Dakota. I thought they played a very, very good match and they deserved to win," said UVU volleyball coach Sam Atoa.

The Wolverines (22-10) end the year with a school-record 22 wins, one better than the 2007 squad. The 10 losses ties the record for the fewest losses in a season also set in 2007.

Broadbent and Jones were named to the all-tournament team.

SLCC TAKES FOURTH AT NATIONALS: At Council Bluffs, Iowa, the Bruins finished their season with a fourth-place finish at the NJCAA National tournament after falling to Western Nebraska.

The Cougars dominated the first set hitting .481 while Salt Lake only managed to hit minus .037; Nebraska never let Salt Lake regain any confidence taking the match in four sets 25-17, 27-25, 23-25, 25-17.

The Bruin offense was unable to put the ball away against the tough Western Nebraska defense which finished with 57 digs and nine team blocks.

Outside hitter Shelbi Zaldain led SLCC with 12 kills and three service aces. Sophomore LaKell Havens had 11 kills along while Ame White scored 10 kills.

Salt Lake Volleyball finishes the season with a 29-9 record.

UTAH 3, AIR FORCE 0: At Colorado Springs, Colo., three Utes hit double-figures in kills and the University of Utah volleyball team clinched a third-place tie in the Mountain West Conference with a sweep at Air Force (25-18, 25-16, 27-25) Saturday at Cadet Gym.

Utah (17-11, 10-6 MWC) ended up tying for third place with New Mexico in the MWC standings.

Chelsey Sandberg had 12 kills on 24 swings with four errors for a .333 hitting percentage. Danielle Killpack tied her career high with 11 kills on just 16 swings and two errors for a .562 hitting mark. Karolina Bartkowiak did not commit a single attack error in the match with 10 kills on 14 swings for a match-high .714 hitting percentage.