PROVO, Utah – March 7, 2026 – After a thrilling five sets, LOVB Atlanta kept their streak alive Thursday night with a 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 18-16 victory over LOVB Salt Lake.
With the win, Atlanta (7-5) extended their six-match win streak and pulled within a half-game of first place in the League One Volleyball standings. Salt Lake and LOVB Houston are now tied for first at 8-5.
“It’s so hard to play against Salt Lake, they have a great team with a lot of options, but it was a great win for us and we’ll keep it going as we move forward.” Coach Paulo Coco said.
Both teams came out with a will to win as Atlanta took a 8-3 lead early in the first set, but Salt Lake fought back, edging out Atlanta 25-20.
Atlanta responded with a dominant energy, controlling the second and third sets. Opposite hitter Ivonne Montaño scored half her 24 total points in the two sets to lead the charge. In the fourth, Salt Lake went on a 10-2 run to blow open a tightly contested frame.
That hot streak continued into the fifth set as the home team won the first four points of the deciding set, but middle blocker Magdalena Jehlárová halted the run with a kill, and Atlanta quickly evened the score at 7-7. The teams traded points until, with a 16-16 scoreline, Montaño landed consecutive kills to clinch the win.
Montaño led all players with 22 kills on a .255 attack efficiency, and she added a pair of blocks. Three other players reached double-digits for the visitors: outside hitter Julia Sangiacomo paired 14 kills with two blocks and an ace, middle blocker Tia Jimerson totaled 14 kills, two blocks and an ace, and Jehlárová posted eight kills, three blocks and one ace.
“Everytime someone makes a mistake, we just tell each other to keep our heads up and focus on the next play, stay confident in our game,” Jehlárová said.
Coming into the match, Salt Lake led the league in aces, and Atlanta was second. With service errors on both sides, Atlanta won the ace battle with four total in the match to Salt Lake’s three while Salt Lake posted the better opponent in-system mark (.386-.410).
Atlanta now returns home with a chance to join the logjam atop the LOVB leaderboard. They host 3-9 LOVB Madison on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern at McCamish Pavilion. Tickets are on sale now at lovbatl.com.
