(Abilene, Texas – Oct. 7, 2023) - Rallying from a two-set deficit early in the match, the Utah Tech volleyball team forced a fifth set on Saturday afternoon at Abilene Christian before falling to the Wildcats at Moody Coliseum.

The Trailblazers (6-10, 2-4 WAC) dropped the opening two sets, 25-18, 25-17 before coming back to win the next two sets, 25-22 & 25-15. The fifth and deciding set went to Abilene Christian (9-9, 4-2 WAC), 15-7 as the Blazers went to five sets for the sixth time this season.

Sophomore outside hitter Kennedi Knudsen led the Trailblazers with 18 kills with the pair of Taela Laufiso and Emma Ricks each racking up a team-high 14 digs. Freshman outside hitter Sydney Reese chipped in seven kills and added a pair of solo blocks. 

The opening set saw the Wildcats jump out to a 16-9 lead and maintain a seven-point lead at 22-15 before a kill from Hannah Howard and an attack error brought the Blazers within five, but Abilene Christian secured three of the final four points in the set for a 25-18 win.

Another fast start for the Wildcats in the second set saw ACU race out to a 14-3 lead and continued to lead by 11 at 19-8. The Blazers were able to cut ACU's lead down to eight on a pair of occasions, but that was as close as they came with the Wildcats taking a 2-0 lead.

The Trailblazers looked to stave off the sweep in the third set locking up ties at 11, 12 & 13 before the Wildcats surged ahead 21-18. It was all Utah Tech down the stretch posting a 7-1 run with Reese coming up big with the final two points of the set with a solo block and kill.

The Blazers took their strong finish from the third set into the fourth set getting out to a 9-2 lead. The Wildcats trimmed Utah Tech's lead down to one at 11-10, but it was all Blazers the rest of the set finishing on a 14-5 run capped off with a kill by Knudsen.

A kill by Knudsen got the Blazers out to a 5-4 lead to start the fifth set, but a 9-0 run for ACU pushed the home team in front 13-5 and went on for the set win to stave off the Trailblazers attempt at a reverse sweep.

As a team, Utah Tech led in blocks (8-6), but the Wildcats were able to edge out the Trailblazers in kills (49-39), service aces (7-6) and hitting percentage (.124-.110).

Utah Tech returns home to host Utah Valley (4-12, 1-4 WAC) on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Seattle (5-11, 0-5 WAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Burns Arena.