SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of San Francisco volleyball team (3-5) split a pair of matches at the Utah Classic on Friday, falling to UC Santa Barbara (5-1) 3-2 before defeating Tennessee State (0-6), 3-2 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
 
Game One: UC Santa Barbara 3, San Francisco 2
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• San Francisco and UC Santa Barbara split the first eight points early in the opening set before the Gauchos pulled ahead by two, 8-6.
• Continuing back and forth in a tight first frame, the Gauchos began to pull away and held a five-point lead, 24-19, late in the set and quickly won 25-20.
• The Gauchos began the second set fast, gaining an early 5-1 advantage. However, kills from Maria Petkova and Lindsay Oldendorf rallied the Dons and cut the deficit to one, 5-4. 
• Despite a three-point run giving the Gauchos a 9-5 lead, the Dons rallied again, winning seven of the following eight points to take their first lead of the set, 12-10. Petkova, Oldendorf, Karolina Nova, and Hayden Goodman propelled San Francisco during its 7-1 run.  
• Leading 19-15 late in the frame, Petkova recorded three straight service aces to give the Dons a commanding 22-15 advantage. Despite a small Gaucho run, Nova secured the set win with a kill, 25-18. 
• In a third tightly contested set, the third frame began with the Dons winning four of the first six points. Kennedy Muckelroy and Astrid Puig kicked off the set with kills, with assists coming from Aylen Ayub and Ezgi Ozkan.   
• Puig recorded her first ace of the game shortly after, making it 9-7, and the Dons continued to hold the lead by securing five of the following points, with kills coming from Muckelroy, Petkova, Oldendorf, and Puig to make it 15-13.  
• Regaining the lead later in the set, UC Santa Barbara used a 7-3 run and held a two-point advantage, 20-19. San Francisco continued to rally and rattled off four straight points, taking a 22-20 lead and never relinquished. With a kill from Puig and two Gaucho errors, the Dons won three of the following five points to win the set, 25-21.
• In the fourth frame, the Dons came out strong, taking five of the first seven points with two kills from Muckelroy, an ace from Goodman and a block by Oldendorf and Muckelroy to start the set with a score of 5-2. 
• After a kill from Puig to give the Dons a 9-5 lead, the Gauchos responded with six points, only dropping one from a kill by Goodman, to take the lead 11-10. UC Santa Barbra pulled away with a big scoring run to make it 19-13. Fighting their way back into the set, San Francisco trailed by one, from Gaucho errors and kills from Oldendorf and Puig to close the gap 20-19. Unable to regain the lead, the Dons dropped the match 25-19.
• In the deciding fifth set, the score remained close without either team holding more than a two-point advantage. Despite saving two match points late in the frame, the Gauchos won the final three points to secure the match with a 17-15 fifth-set win.

Game Two: San Francisco 3, Tennessee State 2

• Midway through the first set, the Dons and Tigers were even at 14, with neither team able to gain an advantage. The Dons pulled ahead shortly after, recording four-straight points to grab an 18-14 lead. 
• The two teams continued to exchange points until the Dons began to pull further ahead, earning four of the following five points, with Oldendorf leading the charge offensively to make it 22-16. 
• The Tigers cut the deficit to one later in the set, 22-21, but the Dons held on for a 25-23 first-set win.
• After the Tigers earned the first point of the second set, the Dons won four straight points, led by Oldendorf and Abby Wadas. Continuing to extend the advantage, Wadas recorded a service ace alongside kills from Muckelroy and Oldendorf during a 7-2 San Francisco run to make it 15-11.
• Tennessee State responded with a scoring run of their own and came back with eight points, only conceding two, for a lead of 19-17. The Tigers kept the upper hand in a tight battle for the final points, winning the second frame, 25-22.  
• With the third set tied at 14, the Dons pulled away late and took control, recording a 6-2 run to extend the lead to 20-16. With the set in hand, a 6-1 run put the Dons over the top, 25-18.
• After the Tigers won the fourth set, 25-22, and evening the match at two games apiece, the Dons powered through the fifth and final frame, securing the match with a 15-10 win.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• In two matches, Muckelroy shined and combined for 27 kills while tallying a season-high 16 in the win over Tennessee State.
• Oldendorf also contributed offensively, tallying 15 kills in the win over the Tigers with a .480 hitting percentage. A force on the defensive side of the ball against the Tigers, Oldendorf also tied a season-high six block assists.
• Petkova and Wadas combined for seven service aces during the two matches, with Petkova accumulating four against UC Santa Barbara and Wadas adding three against Tennessee State. 

UP NEXT:
San Francisco returns to action at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8, when it faces off against Utah in the Utah Classic at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor – Planet Orange - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561. 
 
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