Whittnee Nihipali's record breaking 33-kill night led Utah Tech volleyball to a thrilling five set victory over UT Arlington Thursday night. 

What head coach Camilla Hafoka said: "That was a great team win! Our girls were resilient tonight! They trusted each other and you could see it in their eyes that we were not losing that match. I'm really proud of our seniors and leadership for stepping up with several career high performances and impressive numbers holding down the back row."
 
How it happened: The Mavericks got an early 11-6 jump over the Trailblazers in the first set. Utah Tech didn't let that stand for long thanks to an 8-1 run that all started with a Nihipali kill. She had five kills in that run to help UT take a 14-12 lead. 

With the score close it was a race to finish out the first set. Utah Tech had a 24-23 lead thanks to a kill by Kate Hardy. UTA tied it up with a kill forcing extra points. The Mavericks then came up with two kills to take the first set 26-24. 

The second started in a point-for-point battle with things tied up at 6-6 and later 11-11. Utah Tech then went on a  9-2 to run to take a 20-14 lead. With the commanding lead, a kill by Sunny Brown brought things to set point and a Nihipali kill pushed it to finish for a 25-20 second set win. 

UTA had an 11-6 lead to start the third set but that didn't stop Utah Tech from making a surge to tie the set up at 12-12. Thanks to a Nihipali kill the Trailblazers were able to take the lead for the first time in set three. UTA was able to take a 23-20 lead and never gave it up as they claimed a 25-23 win in set three. 

The Trailblazers were first to break away with any substantial lead in the fourth set with a 10-7 score. UTA came back and tied it at 15-15 before a Nihipali kill sparked three consecutive points to pull the Trailblazers ahead again. Utah Tech never gave up the lead again and came away with the 25-22 win to force a fifth set. 

In the fifth set, Utah Tech was the first to hit the eight point milestone thanks to yet another Nihipali kill. The Trailblazers managed to pull ahead for a 13-9 lead. The Mavericks came up with three consecutive points to trail by one. And then a UTA service error put the Trailblazers at set match point, however the Mavericks slammed a kill before Utah Tech committed an error to tie things up at 14-14. 

With the match on the line and tensions high UTA and Utah Tech battled matching each other point for point pushing the score to 18-18. Nihipali slammed her 33rd kill to take it to match point (again). To end the match, Nihipali and Sunny Brown came up with a big block sending the ball right back down to the floor on the Mavericks side of the court for a 20-18 fifth set win. 

Killin' it:  Utah Tech was led by Nihipali who put up a career high performance of 33 kills from 83 attacks with five errors for a .337 percentage. Hannah Howard posted 15 kills while Hardy and Chayse Daugherty added 11 each. 

In total, UT had 79 kills from 215 attacks with 19 errors for a .279 on the night. 

Taela Laufiso had 58 assists to add to Utah Tech's offensive efforts in the match for a new career high.  

Diggin' it:  Utah Tech was led by Mykenna Nelson who recorded 28 digs in the match. Laufiso recorded another career high with 20 digs on the night. Daugherty and Nihipali each recorded a double double as Daugherty had 17 digs while Nihipali had 10. Emma Ricks also dug out 12. 

In total, Utah Tech had 94 total digs. 

Blockin' it:  Utah Tech was led by Sunny Brown who recorded seven total blocks. Hardy had six and Nihipali added five. In total, UT had 13 team blocks. 

Notes to know: Utah Tech is now 11-11 overall on the season and 5-8 in WAC action. 

Nihipali's 33 kills is now the school record for most kills in a single match. Her 83 attacks is now the school record for most attacks in a single match. She now sits at No.2 in the WAC for most kills in a match this season. 

The Trailblazers 79 kills is now the school record for most kills by a team in a match in school history. 

Laufiso's 58 assists ties the school record for most assists in a match. 

Next Up: The Trailblazers will have their final regular season match on Saturday at Stephen F. Austin.