Weber State University Athletics
Friday, August 25
Ogden
12:30 PM
Weber State University
1-0,0-0Big Sky
3
vs
2
Utah Tech
0-1,0-0WAC
1st set1
2nd set2
3rd set3
4th set4
5th set5
FinalF
Utah Tech
26
25
14
15
6
2
Weber St.
24
22
25
25
15
3
Photo by: Robert Casey
Career Highs and School Record Chases Highlight Wildcats' 2-0 Start
8/25/2023 9:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN – The Weber State Wildcat volleyball program jumpstarted its 2023 campaign with a reverse sweep victory of Utah Tech, followed by a three-set walloping of Manhattan on Friday in Swenson Gym.
It wasn't always smooth sailing for Jeremiah Larsen and the 'Cats during the debut of the state-of-the-art floor in Swenson Gym. The visiting Blazers snuck away from the first two sets with a quick 2-0 lead, but seven combined kills from Ashley Gneiting and Liana Woodley launched the 'Cats to a dominating 25-14 third set victory to kickstart WSU's reverse sweep.
The Gneiting show continued in the fourth set when the sophomore outside hitter dropped three of her five service aces from the match to help get the 'Cats a 25-15 set victory and knot the match up at two sets a piece.
Weber State reigned supreme in the fifth set, as well. Baylee Bodily, Gneiting, and Dani Richins combined for six kills to outpace Utah Tech and wrap up a well-earned 15-6 fifth set to complete the reverse sweep.
The Wildcats took a breather for a few hours and came out ready to play against Manhattan in Friday's nightcap.
Brielle Rueckert came out on fire in the first set and converted five kills on seven swings to pace the purple and white's offense. Richins contributed four kills and an ace to compliment Rueckert's dominance, and the Wildcats cruised to a 25-11 first set.
By the end of the second set Rueckert was hitting an errorless .800 on ten swings and the Jaspers couldn't stop Weber State's balanced and potent offense. WSU took a 2-0 lead in the match after winning the second set 25-12.
The sweep was finished off as Bodily put away four kills to go along with two kills from Gneiting and Mia Peterson, and Weber State walked out of Swenson Gym on Friday with a 2-0 record after finishing off the three-set match with a 25-18 win.
NOTABLES
-Richins' three service aces on the day give her 166 for her career. She now needs seven more aces to tie the all-time record for most aces in a career (Kathy Nickel).
-With 22 kills in the two matches, Richins has now totaled 1,452 kills and is just 12 kills away from tying her long time teammate Rylin Adams for the third most career kills in school history.
-Makayla Sorensen's 34 digs on the day give her 1,284 for her career and have moved her into fourth place in the Wildcat record books for most digs.
-Kate Standifird's four service aces against Manhattan tie a career high for most aces in a match. She's previously accomplished the feat on two separate occasions.
-Rueckert's .818 hitting percentage against Manhattan set a new career high for the sophomore superstar. Her previous high (.769) was set on September 30, 2022 against Idaho State.
-Gneiting's five service aces in the Utah Tech match set a new career high.
-The reverse sweep against Utah Tech was Weber State's first reverse sweep since September 15, 2022 at Utah Valley.
QUOTABLES
"When we're mentally disciplined we can string together some really nice volleyball. We just have to be able to do that for longer periods of time. I think we're deeper than we've ever been. Usually we can't go three or four deep and on this team in some cases we can go four or five. There are some kids on the bench that are pretty freaking good that didn't get in (the Utah Tech) game, but that depth's definitely going to help us in the long run." - Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
Weber State will play St. Mary's tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 in Swenson Gym. The battle of the two unbeaten squads will be the championship match of the 2023 Wildcat Invitational.
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.
It wasn't always smooth sailing for Jeremiah Larsen and the 'Cats during the debut of the state-of-the-art floor in Swenson Gym. The visiting Blazers snuck away from the first two sets with a quick 2-0 lead, but seven combined kills from Ashley Gneiting and Liana Woodley launched the 'Cats to a dominating 25-14 third set victory to kickstart WSU's reverse sweep.
The Gneiting show continued in the fourth set when the sophomore outside hitter dropped three of her five service aces from the match to help get the 'Cats a 25-15 set victory and knot the match up at two sets a piece.
Weber State reigned supreme in the fifth set, as well. Baylee Bodily, Gneiting, and Dani Richins combined for six kills to outpace Utah Tech and wrap up a well-earned 15-6 fifth set to complete the reverse sweep.
The Wildcats took a breather for a few hours and came out ready to play against Manhattan in Friday's nightcap.
Brielle Rueckert came out on fire in the first set and converted five kills on seven swings to pace the purple and white's offense. Richins contributed four kills and an ace to compliment Rueckert's dominance, and the Wildcats cruised to a 25-11 first set.
By the end of the second set Rueckert was hitting an errorless .800 on ten swings and the Jaspers couldn't stop Weber State's balanced and potent offense. WSU took a 2-0 lead in the match after winning the second set 25-12.
The sweep was finished off as Bodily put away four kills to go along with two kills from Gneiting and Mia Peterson, and Weber State walked out of Swenson Gym on Friday with a 2-0 record after finishing off the three-set match with a 25-18 win.
NOTABLES
-Richins' three service aces on the day give her 166 for her career. She now needs seven more aces to tie the all-time record for most aces in a career (Kathy Nickel).
-With 22 kills in the two matches, Richins has now totaled 1,452 kills and is just 12 kills away from tying her long time teammate Rylin Adams for the third most career kills in school history.
-Makayla Sorensen's 34 digs on the day give her 1,284 for her career and have moved her into fourth place in the Wildcat record books for most digs.
-Kate Standifird's four service aces against Manhattan tie a career high for most aces in a match. She's previously accomplished the feat on two separate occasions.
-Rueckert's .818 hitting percentage against Manhattan set a new career high for the sophomore superstar. Her previous high (.769) was set on September 30, 2022 against Idaho State.
-Gneiting's five service aces in the Utah Tech match set a new career high.
-The reverse sweep against Utah Tech was Weber State's first reverse sweep since September 15, 2022 at Utah Valley.
QUOTABLES
"When we're mentally disciplined we can string together some really nice volleyball. We just have to be able to do that for longer periods of time. I think we're deeper than we've ever been. Usually we can't go three or four deep and on this team in some cases we can go four or five. There are some kids on the bench that are pretty freaking good that didn't get in (the Utah Tech) game, but that depth's definitely going to help us in the long run." - Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
Weber State will play St. Mary's tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 in Swenson Gym. The battle of the two unbeaten squads will be the championship match of the 2023 Wildcat Invitational.
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
UTTECH
Weber
Kills
54
58
Errors
30
22
Attempts
186
177
Hitting %
.129
.203
Points
66.0
81.0
Assists
49
53
Aces
3
12
Blocks
9
11
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
5
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
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