(Stephenville, Texas – Oct. 5, 2023) - Rallying late winning the final two sets of the match, the Utah Tech volleyball team topped Tarleton State in five sets on Thursday night at Wisdom Gym.

The Trailblazers (6-9, 2-3 WAC) dropped the opening set, 25-11, before winning the second set, 25-20. The Texans (11-8, 2-3 WAC) quickly took the third set, 25-14, before the Blazers roared back to take the final two sets, 25-22 & 15-5.

Utah Tech was led by a career-high 15 kills from Taylor Snow with the sophomore middle blocker adding seven blocks and four digs.

Kennedi Knudsen posted her third double-double of the season finishing with 12 kills and 10 digs while Taela Laufiso added a team-leading 33 assists.

The opening set saw the Texans jump out to a 19-10 lead and score six of the final seven points of the set for a quick 1-0 lead.

The Blazers responded with an 8-2 run midway through the second set to turn a 12-7 deficit to a 15-14 lead and increase it to four at 22-18 after a kill by Elise Porter and closed out the set with a kill from Knudsen.

After another quick win for the Texans in the third set, winning 25-14, UT again was able to fight back in the fourth set. Falling behind 14-11, the Blazers used a 10-1 run to surge ahead 21-15 after a kill by Snow. A 6-1 run for Tarleton State cut the Blazers' lead down to one, 22-21, but a kill from Laufiso and a pair of blocks from Utah Tech forced a fifth set.

Jumping out to a 7-3 lead, the teams traded the next four points and with the set sitting at 9-5, the Blazers scored the final six points of the set for the dominant 15-5 victory and secured their second five-set win of the season.

The Blazers held an edge in kills (49-43), registered a season-high 14.0 blocks as a team and outhit the Texans (.114-.087).

Utah Tech closes out its weekend in Texas on Saturday traveling to Abilene Christian (8-9, 3-2 WAC) at 12 p.m. MT.