(St. George, Utah - Nov. 2, 2024) - Behind a program record 34 kills from Kennedi Knudsen, the Trailblazers extended their winning streak to five on Saturday night with a five-set thrilling win over Utah Valley at Burns Arena.

Utah Tech (15-7, 9-3 WAC), who last won five straight matches in 2019, took the first two sets, 29-27, 25-22 before dropping the next two sets, 25-22, 27-25, and rallied back in the fifth set to top Utah Valley, 16-14.

Honoring redshirt senior opposite hitter Hannah Howard prior to the match for Senior Night, the Bountiful, Utah native totaled a season-high 15 kills to go along with three blocks and a dig.

Knudsen passed the previous high mark of 33 kills in a single match set by Whittnee Nihipali at UT Arlington in 2022, the junior outside hitter added seven digs, four service aces, two blocks and two assists.

Sophomore outside hitter Tessa Treanor totaled her sixth double-double of the season tallying season highs in both kills (15) and digs (21).

A back-and-forth opening set saw the teams trade a pair of 4-0 runs, the latter of which put the Trailblazers in the lead, 19-17 after a kill by Treanor.

A kill by Knudsen put the Blazers on the brink of set point leading 24-22, but a 5-3 run for the Wolverines tied the set at 27. Back-to-back kills from Knudsen and Treanor gave UT a 1-0 set lead.

The second set saw an even start between the Blazers and Wolverines as a 3-0 run for UT put the Trailblazers ahead, 21-17. A 5-2 run for UVU cut the Blazers' lead down to one (23-22), but a kill by Knudsen and a setting error by UVU clinched put the Trailblazers ahead 2-0.

After a short break, the Wolverines jumped out to a 7-0 start to the third set, but a 15-5 run for the Blazers put UT ahead 15-12 after a service ace by Ireland Avalos.

A kill by Howard pushed the Blazers in the lead, 21-20, but it was all UVU down the stretch scoring five of the final six points of the set for a three-point set win.

With the Wolverines leading 16-10 in the fourth set, the Trailblazers raced back going on a 14-7 run to reach the brink of match point leading 24-23. With UVU able to stave off another match point, the final three points of the set went to the Wolverines for a 27-25 set win.

Heading to a fifth set for first time since Sept. 21 at Northern Arizona, UVU raced out to an 8-5 lead before the teams switched sides.

The Wolverines continued to lead 11-8, but the Blazers dug deep and scored four straight points to take a 12-11 lead after a UVU attack error.

With UVU on the brink of sealing the match leading 14-13, Knudsen kept the Blazers alive with her record-setting 34th kill of the match and a block and attack error sealed the victory.

Utah Tech totaled the third-most kills in a single match in its NCAA era with a season-high 72 while dishing out 69 assists (second-most in the NCAA era in program history).

The Trailblazers also led in digs (85-77) and service aces (7-6) while the Wolverines led the way in blocks (19-9).

The Blazers head back out on the road next week traveling to Grand Canyon (16-8, 9-3 WAC) on Thursday and California Baptist (4-20, 4-8 WAC) on Saturday.