Weber State University Athletics
Friday, August 26
Ogden
12:30 PM
Weber State University
1-0,0-0Big Sky
3
vs
0
UC Riverside
0-1,0-0Big West
1
2
3
F
UC Riverside
19
14
12
0
Weber St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Robert Casey
Wildcats Beat Highlanders, T-Birds, Advance to Wildcat Invitational Championship Match
8/26/2022 11:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN, Utah – In an action-packed day in Swenson Gym, the Weber State Wildcats came out victorious against the UC Riverside Highlanders 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-12), and 3-1 against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (19-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19)
The Highlanders, who are led by a first-year head coach in Nicky Cannon, came in to Ogden as a bit of a mystery and were able to hang close with the Wildcats in the first set before WSU pulled away. The second and third sets were a bit more wide open and Weber State was able to prevail 25-14 and 25-12, respectively.
Emma Mangum led the team with 11 kills on 24 swings, Kate Standifird did an excellent job of orchestrating the offense with 32 assists. Weber State, one of the toughest serving teams in the nation, served eight aces in the first match, including five from ace queen Dani Richins.
The 'Cats returned to the floor on Friday night for a matchup against in-state rival Southern Utah. Prior to the match, Weber State celebrated the 2021 Big Sky Conference championship-winning team by handing out rings and kind of unveiling the championship banner. A rope malfunction prevented it from being completely revealed, however.
The jitters were apparent when Weber State fell behind SUU early on and the T-Birds carried their momentum to a big 25-19 set victory.
The Wildcats rebounded in emphatic form.
Weber State held SUU to negative hitting percentages in the second and third sets, and contrasted Southern Utah's offense by hitting near .300 in each frame. The Wildcats took the second and third sets 25-13 and 25-15.
WSU jumped out to a massive 16-8 lead in the fourth set and started to let its foot off the gas pedal, allowing SUU to claw back into it. The Wildcats ended up scoring six of the match's final nine
points, and prevailed 25-19 to close out the match.
Richins led the Wildcats with a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs. True freshman Saane Katoa shined bright with six kills on 11 swings to go along with 11 blocks. Standifird dished out another 39 assists to go along with 12 kills and three service aces. The Wildcats also outblocked the T-Birds 17.0-5.0.
NOTABLES
-With six service aces on the day, Richins is now tied for sixth all-time in Wildcat history with 135 career aces.
-Swenson Gym continues to be a fortress for the Wildcats as Weber State is now 35-4 at home since the 2019 season.
-With a win over Southern Utah, WSU now has 16 wins over in-state opponents since 2018 – the most in-state wins for any school in the state of Utah.
-This is the fourth consecutive season that Weber State has started its year with a win in the season-opening match.
QUOTABLES
"I have a lot of mixed emotions from the day. We had some pretty good highs and some really weird lows. I'm grateful that we're not a finished product and that there's still a lot of learning and growing that needs to take place. […] I thought Kate did a nice job running our offense in sets two and three. I thought Saane rebounded nicely from not being so good in the first match. It's nice to see Ashley Gneiting come off the bench and play some good volleyball." – Jeremiah Larsen
"I think it was really exciting to see other faces across the other side of the court and to work on the team culture to come out and compete for every ball. I think we learned a lot of the day and we were able to find out who we are right now and what we need to work on in the long run." – Emma Mangum
UP NEXT
Weber State rounds out the Wildcat Invitational against San Jose State – the only other unbeaten team in the tournament – on Saturday, August 27 at 5:30 PM in Swenson Gym. The championship match can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
The Highlanders, who are led by a first-year head coach in Nicky Cannon, came in to Ogden as a bit of a mystery and were able to hang close with the Wildcats in the first set before WSU pulled away. The second and third sets were a bit more wide open and Weber State was able to prevail 25-14 and 25-12, respectively.
Emma Mangum led the team with 11 kills on 24 swings, Kate Standifird did an excellent job of orchestrating the offense with 32 assists. Weber State, one of the toughest serving teams in the nation, served eight aces in the first match, including five from ace queen Dani Richins.
The 'Cats returned to the floor on Friday night for a matchup against in-state rival Southern Utah. Prior to the match, Weber State celebrated the 2021 Big Sky Conference championship-winning team by handing out rings and kind of unveiling the championship banner. A rope malfunction prevented it from being completely revealed, however.
The jitters were apparent when Weber State fell behind SUU early on and the T-Birds carried their momentum to a big 25-19 set victory.
The Wildcats rebounded in emphatic form.
Weber State held SUU to negative hitting percentages in the second and third sets, and contrasted Southern Utah's offense by hitting near .300 in each frame. The Wildcats took the second and third sets 25-13 and 25-15.
WSU jumped out to a massive 16-8 lead in the fourth set and started to let its foot off the gas pedal, allowing SUU to claw back into it. The Wildcats ended up scoring six of the match's final nine
points, and prevailed 25-19 to close out the match.
Richins led the Wildcats with a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs. True freshman Saane Katoa shined bright with six kills on 11 swings to go along with 11 blocks. Standifird dished out another 39 assists to go along with 12 kills and three service aces. The Wildcats also outblocked the T-Birds 17.0-5.0.
NOTABLES
-With six service aces on the day, Richins is now tied for sixth all-time in Wildcat history with 135 career aces.
-Swenson Gym continues to be a fortress for the Wildcats as Weber State is now 35-4 at home since the 2019 season.
-With a win over Southern Utah, WSU now has 16 wins over in-state opponents since 2018 – the most in-state wins for any school in the state of Utah.
-This is the fourth consecutive season that Weber State has started its year with a win in the season-opening match.
QUOTABLES
"I have a lot of mixed emotions from the day. We had some pretty good highs and some really weird lows. I'm grateful that we're not a finished product and that there's still a lot of learning and growing that needs to take place. […] I thought Kate did a nice job running our offense in sets two and three. I thought Saane rebounded nicely from not being so good in the first match. It's nice to see Ashley Gneiting come off the bench and play some good volleyball." – Jeremiah Larsen
"I think it was really exciting to see other faces across the other side of the court and to work on the team culture to come out and compete for every ball. I think we learned a lot of the day and we were able to find out who we are right now and what we need to work on in the long run." – Emma Mangum
UP NEXT
Weber State rounds out the Wildcat Invitational against San Jose State – the only other unbeaten team in the tournament – on Saturday, August 27 at 5:30 PM in Swenson Gym. The championship match can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Team Stats
UCR
Weber
Kills
24
38
Errors
18
12
Attempts
102
94
Hitting %
.059
.277
Points
31
53
Assists
20
35
Aces
2
8
Blocks
5
7
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
9
Aces
5
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballWeber State vs. Portland State
Friday, October 31
Weber State Volleyball In-Depth | Episode 18: Kaylie Ray
Wednesday, October 08
Weber State Volleyball In-Depth | Episode 17: Jayda Tupea
Tuesday, October 07
Weber State vs. Idaho State | 10-3-25
Friday, October 03