FLAGSTAFF, Ariz - Utah Tech volleyball finished out the Lumberjack Classic Saturday afternoon. After a thrilling and strong first set the Trailblazers fell to  Michigan in four sets. 

What Head Coach Camilla Hafoka said: Our girls competed this weekend and that's what I asked of them. Michigan made the right adjustments after the first set, which resulted in taking the match. Our girls fought until the end, but despite the score in the last set, they never gave up. I saw so many good things and that's what I'm building off of. 
 
How it happened: Utah Tech showed up in the first set and hung right tight with Michigan keeping the score close or tied. A kill by Chayse Daugherty tied the set up at 13-13 and sparked a 6-0 Trailblazer run to put UT up 19-13. Michigan made a surge to try and recover but a service error killed Michigan's momentum. 

Utah Tech capitalized pushing ahead with three consecutive points. Whittnee Nihipali came up with an attack for a kill to put the game at set point in favor for Utah Tech. A Michigan error gave the Trailblazers a 25-20 win and a 1-0 match lead. 

In the second set, UT had a slow start but back-to-back kills by Nihipali gave the Trailblazers some energy to tie the set up at 12-12. The two teams went back and forth playing leap frog in the score until late in the set when Michigan went on a 7-1 run to take the set 25-20. 

The third set started out point for point and stayed tied until late in the set when Michigan pushed for an 18-14 lead over Utah Tech. The Trailblazers couldn't recover and the Wolverines took the third set 25-20 giving Michigan the 2-1 match lead. 

Michigan controlled the fourth set while Utah Tech couldn't capture any momentum. The Wolverines ended up claiming the fourth set 25-9 and the match 3-1. 

Killin' It: Hannah Howard led the Trailblazers with 11 kills in the match. Nihipali added nine kills to Utah Tech's total of 37. Taela Laufiso contributed 29 assists to Utah Tech's offensive efforts. 

In total, Utah Tech ended the match with 37 kills from 126 attacks with 20 errors for a .135 percentage on the game. 

Diggin' it: Utah Tech was led by Mykenna Nelson who scooped out 22 digs on the match.

Notes to know: Utah Tech is now 2-1 overall on the season.  This weekend was the first time since 2009 that Utah Tech  started the season off with back-to-back wins and the second time ever in school history. 

Next Up: The Trailblazers will host their first home game of the season Friday, Sept. 2 against Cal State Fullerton.