New Logos for Utah Valley University Athletics

Utah Valley recruit lights up No. 1 team

Ben Aird was on BYU and Utah's recruiting radar not too long ago but for some reason dropped off and landed smack dab in the middle of Utah Valley's.
Looks like coach Dick Hunsaker found himself a diamond with the way Aird played against top-ranked Brighton this week.
The 6-foot-10 center, who plays for Bountiful, dropped in 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as well as getting two blocks in the Braves 75-68 win Tuesday night.
Aird scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Bountiful's season opener against Syracuse.
He is being touted as, and wants to be, the best big-man in the state. The high school basketball season is young but Aird seems like a great get for the Wolverines.
Utah Valley loses two big men after this season, Joe Walker and Jordan Brady.

Women's basketball

Hot, Hot, Hot
Forward Robyn Fairbanks (right) didn't have to take control in Utah Valley's first few games of the season so Julie McMurray and Sandy Marvin took more of the bulk offensively but Fairbanks didn't wait long to take control.
Against UC Irvine Fairbanks netted 26 first-half points and 36 total. She kept the Wolverines in the game when McMurray and Marvin struggled with their shots early on.
And in an overtime game against Seton Hall Fairbanks followed up her 36-point performance with 39 points to help Utah Valley remain undefeated.
A vote in the AP top 25 followed.
A 6-0 start for the first time in school history has some people taking notice a win against the cross-town Cougars will bolster that recognition Dec. 8 and a good showing 10 days later against Duke will definitely have folks paying attention.
This week the Wolverines travel to play in the Air Force Classic and will face 2-2 Ohio and then either Air Force or Hampton. The Falcons have wins against Denver and Army while Hampton is 4-1 with a win over Georgetown to open the season.
This has to be one of the best teams in school history and the good thing for coach Cathy Nixon she will have her top three scorers back next year.

Wolverines take down Troy in home opener

UVU (2-2) 72 Troy (1-2) 51
It’s hard to believe Utah Valley trailed by 12 to start this game. Troy was hitting from deep for the first few minutes and didn’t connect on a a two-point field goal until the second half.
At first UV struggled to score, shooting mostly perimeter jumpers the first few minutes, but got a few easy buckets inside and took off from that point on. Troy is a zone team but once UV worked the offense inside and once guard Ryan Toolson started hitting from the three-point range Troy couldn’t keep up.
The Trojans didn’t have anything inside; even their big men were shooting threes all game.
Toolson led UV with 17 points and he didn’t attempt a shot inside the three-point line all game. Jordan Brady pitched in 10 points and 10 rebounds. Richard Troyer scored 14 also.
Troy made only three shots in the game that weren’t 3-pointers and shot 35 threes in the game.
Freshman Matt Komenda also played a nice game with 12 points off the bench for the Wolverines.
Up next for Utah Valley is Great Falls on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

Ronnie Price was in attendance after he played the most minutes he’s played all season the night before against New Jersey as the back up point guard while Jason Hart was at a funeral. Price’s dunk was pretty nice too. He always likes to stick around for pictures and autographs.

Fairbanks, big second half makes UV 4-0

With sophomore Julie McMurray, who is leading the team in scoring so far this season, struggling to get things going in the first half Robyn Fairbanks showed she can still dominate a game.
In the women's 103-83 win over UC Irvine Fairbanks wouldn't be stopped. She scored 26 first-half points and 36 total to go with 15 rebounds. She single handedly kept the Wolverines in the game in the first half.
But Utah Valley's two-point halftime lead turned into a blowout. McMurray got going a bit with seven early second-half points and Sandy Marvin helped out with 22 points and 10 assists.
The Anteaters wanted to push the ball but in the second half Utah Valley showed its depth by running a bit and UC Irvine wasn't able to keep up with the tempo.
In the first half Irvine turned Wolverine turnovers into points put couldn't do the same in the second half.
Marvin also had five steals and so did Asumi Nakayama.
Wolverines face a tough test Wednesday before Thanksgiving against Seton Hall. Good thing Utah Valley has the game at home where they play much better.
Starting good is one thing, they did it last year, keeping it going will be another thing.
Utah Valley has beat all four opponents this season by at least 20 points.

NCAA review and conference talk

With the NCAA in town for an evauluation a few weeks back the athletic department did what it could to make sure things are in order.
Although it is an athletic commitee, other areas of the school were looked at. The NCAA talked to administrators and professors to find out what the relationship is between athletics and education as well as looking at facilities and other things in the athletic department.
The NCAA gives out three grades, fail, pass with exceptions, and pass.
A.D. Mike Jacobsen was sure the school would pass but wondered what exceptions would need to happen before the end of the school's provisional status.
He got half of it right, the school passed and with no exceptions. People said that doesn't happen very often.
With the review and the pass out of the way UV is more interesting for conference pursuers. Here is a list of possible conferences UV thought they would have a shot at and the realistic possibilities, Jacobsen said:


Big West: Not very likely at all. The school presidents want to turn this conference into a California only conference.


Big Sky:They want a school with football and if they said UV was in if they start playing football in three years then UV would take it in an instant. And football would be on the way.


Mid-Conn/Summit: They want out of Utah and want Southern Utah out already. It's just not going to happen and wouldn't be good for UV anyway no sweat about that loss.



Sunbelt: UV men just beat their champ in hoops but they have Denver and don't want to go any farther west as it is. Again no big deal here the travel would be brutal anyway, not that going to play all these sorry teams back east right now isn't. But Sunbelt is a conference the school would be completely happy to be in.


WAC: Jacobsen said this is the conference that has spoken to him the most. They are looking to expand to a non-football school also so every other sport can have travel partners besides football which they want to stay at nine so they can have a bye week rotated through the season. Of course Boise State and Fresno State want out of the WAC and into the Mountain West and that may open up a bigger possibility for UV. Although it still seems a stretch right now that UV would get into that conference it is the best possibility right now besides the Big Sky. If UV did take a spot in the WAC it would be great for the sports they have football would most likely be out of the picture at UV for a very long time.
They would have to play D-I football and meet all the requirments for that plus build a 30-40,000 seat stadium, plus it would cost more than half te budget right now to play every season.


Passing the NCAA stuff was great and conference affiliation will be even better for the school especially if it is the WAC.

One down—two to go for championship

30-18, 30-21, 30-14
Utah Valley women's volleyball team shouldn't have any problem blowing by every team in the Independent tournament this weekend on its way to the championship.
And in the Wolverines first match against Providence the expected was exactly what happened. Jessica Endres, who played limited time, was way too much for Providence as well as the entire Wolverine front line. Endres finished with seven kills in the first game and 12 in the match. She's good but Utah Valley didn't really need her anyway.
Kristin Anderson took a big role and had 10 kills to gave Utah Valley a big lift also in the middle. Overall Utah Valley was way too much up front for anything Providence could offer and it will probably be that way both tournaments.
Kristi Lindley had 41 assists for the Wolverines.
Providence wasn't a big problem and the Wolverines should roll again in game two.
Utah Valley coach Sam Atoa was able to work in most of his players in the easy win.
Utah Valley's second game in the tournament is Texas-Pan American and with a win they will be in the championship Saturday.

Assistant hockey coach fatally shot

It's sad, terrible news today that Ken Dolezar was shoot to death this morning at a Sandy Village Inn.
Police are reporting Dolezar was shot two to three times after an argument with another man.
The first time I covered a hockey game UVSC lost 15-1 to Utah State and Dolezar was who I talked to after the game. After the tough loss Dolezar was very cordial and helpful.
He has helped the Hockey team through coaching and also financially during the team's first three years.
I know he will be missed by the players and other coaches.
The man suspected of shooting Dolezar fled in Dolezar's white Lincoln Navigator but the car was found this afternoon but no suspect yet.
It's sad for everyone especially the hockey community that has grown to be pretty sizable at Utah Valley.

Taking down the Sun Belt

It took three games but Utah Valley finally got its first win on the season. The Wolverines beat Arkansas State in the final game of their three-game road trip 67-63.

Arkansas State is the defending Sun Belt Conference champion and is likely to repeat this season.

On the post game on KSTAR 1400 AM coach Dick Hunsaker said, "Guards win baby. Little Kevin Woods came in and gave us a spark. He's got upside . . . But the game ball has to go to Josh Olsen."

Kevin Woods scored the team's first four points and gave Utah Valley a much needed spark.

Olsen scored 12 points all in the second half as the Wolverines came from behind 11 to start the game and two at half.
Richard Troyer played 40 minutes and scored 10 points in the third game in six days for Utah Valley.

"I feel bad we put our team in this position but I had no choice," Hunsaker said.
"This team is going to get better."

Olsen's big game helped Utah Valley on its way to a big second half. Joe Walker pulled in 14 rebounds to go with seven blocks and seven points as the pair had their best game this season. Jordan Brady, always dependable scored 14 and had 10 rebounds. Toolson, who continues to lead the team offensively, scored 20.

Brady and Toolson got much needed help but only six players scored for Utah Valley. The question of depth could prove costly this season. Another problem is turnovers, 20 in this game.

They say the first win is the toughest and Arkansas State wasn't easy but 1-2 on the road trip isn't bad, 2-1, very possible, but Boise State got the best of the Wolverines in overtime.

Up next another Sun Belt team; Troy at home Nov. 20 for the home opener.

0-2 not good, not bad

An 0-2 start for the men's basketball team isn't good of course but there are some positives.
First the schedule isn't kind with three straight road games. At Boise in the season opener the wolverines missed a chance to end the game in regulation and then couldn't climb back when the Broncos got up in OT. Ryan Toolson is still carrying the offense and it might have hurt them down three with 20 seconds because everyone knew who was going to try and take the final shot.
Against No. 12 Marquette Utah Valley led at halftime 34-32 but scored only 21 second-half points and Marquette won 66-55. Utah Valley should be good though. Last year Hunsaker talked about how hard the road is in college basketball but it's what Utah Valley has to go through.
Toolson and Jordan Brady are going to a pretty dynamic duo this season and Joe Walker brings length and excitement to the defense when players get beat.
The schedule eases after the road trip and Utah Valley should go on a nice win streak.

WAC looking to BYU

Expansion is on the mind of the WAC but it wants a school without football. If BYU takes up an offer the school could go Independent in football, a scenario which has people talking. Then BYU would join the WAC in the rest of its sports.
What does that mean for Utah Valley?
Well, the WAC wants a school who won't play football in the conference so BYU taking the invite would bump Utah Valley out of any chances at the WAC.
Whether BYU wants to do that may not be likely but still getting in the WAC is a possibility for Utah Valley if the conference can't find another taker.

NCAA in town for check-up

So, why was an exhibition game against Westminster so highly marketed by the athletic department? One reason, and it wasn't because they thought everyone would love to see John Stockton's son play the final minutes of the game.


The marketing effort brought 3,600 fans and a noteably bigger student section but can that continue without the marketing?
Well, all the effort was because the NCAA was in town to see how well the school was complying to NCAA requirments. By all indications today things were going well. Monday the group was touring facilities and Tuesday the group was doing interviews with a number of people. The athletic department won't find out specifics of how well the whole thing went for a little while.


The visit was a little earlier than scheduled and the NCAA will be back in 10 years to check again. Athletics is on its way to ending the provisional status it is currently in and when that happens it opens up postseason play possibilities among other things.

Volleyball sweeps In-state rival, ties school record for wins

The Wolverines displayed their dominance against in-state rival Utah State in the Shurian Activity center, sweeping the Aggies 30-18, 30-26, and 30-26.

The win was the 18th of the year for UVSC(18-9), tying the school record for wins in a season.

Junior Camie Manwill had a double-double with 17 digs and 11 kills while also providing an energy to the team. She said after the game that she had never seen the crowd so energetic and enthusiastic, and it was a thrill to play for the fans.



True enough, the crowd energy was high-paced the entire evening. Many of the men's basketball team were in attendance, showing school unity just minutes after their victory over Mesa State.

Senior Jessica Endres came up big for the Wolverines, hitting an impressive .520 to go along with 15 kills, six block assists and six digs. As a team, the Wolverines had six aces and 13 team blocks.

UVSC finishes up the regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 10 against Nevada. The Wolverines will then host the year-end Division I Independent Championship on November 16-17.

Starters come through

As I expected Richard Troyer, Jordan Brady, Joe Walker, Josh Olsen and Ryan Toolson got the start against Mesa State in the first exhibition game of the season, a 91-59 UV win. And all five had some nice moments, some more than others.

Brady has some nice finishes by the basket including a fancy spin move into the lane in between two defenders. Brady looks ready to take over as one of the team's leaders this year.

Walker swatted six shots in the win and also finished a couple of nice lay ups close to the hoop. The team seemed to rely on Walker being there defensively to help them out when they got beat but all in all Walker looks and said he is ready and more confident than he was last season.

Toolson did, of course, what he does. He missed his first two threes but was pretty money after the first ten minutes and he led the team with 19 points. Mesa State looked like he was more of a focus this year compared to last year but he still found ways to put the ball in the hoop.

Making a position change Troyer shouldn't have problems on the offensive end but defensively he is being asked to guard quicker smaller guys. He struggled at times but overall looks to be ready and with Walker in the middle Troyer has more time to get acquainted with his new role.

Olsen backed up Chris Bailey last year and got the start this game but he struggled at times with a couple unforced turnovers but he has the ability to get it done.
If not, Kevin Woods, a freshmen who played 21 minutes, can do some nice things. Perhaps his welcome-to-college moment was when he took a pass from Walker inside all alone and blew an attempted dunk in the second half. He can shake defenders but has a lot to learn.

This result was expected even though Utah Valley narrowly escaped Mesa State last year when David Heck drilled a three at the end of the game.



Other notes: Former guard/forward Matt Peterson was on the radio broadcast with Steve Watts. Peterson was doing the color or analysis part. I'm sure he can give some good insights about Hunsaker and some other factors he went through last year.
Heck was also at the game, both players are still in school, and Peterson said Heck will give it a go on the radio also.


The NCAA will be in town for a analysis of the athletic department Monday and they are trying to push the game and get students aware and have them show up after a crowd of 457 was at the Mesa State game. It will be interesting to see what attendance is like for another exhibition game against another team UV should pound.