Madison, Wis. - February 5, 2026 - LOVB Salt Lake defeated LOVB Madison (25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 25-16) in Madison’s return home after a road stretch. This was the third meeting between the teams for the 2026 season and Salt Lake leads the series 2-1.
“We're in most of these sets all the way up until the end, up until point 20, point 18, and then we kind of fall off, make some unforced errors, and uncharacteristic errors, hesitation. And so can we do better in the red zone? Can we be better behind the service line? Looking forward to improving that on Saturday,” said setter Lauren Carlini.
Salt Lake took the first match 25-22, but not without a fight from Madison. The score was tied 20-20 before the visitors won five of the final seven points to clinch the set. Madison countered in the second, leaning on six kills in the frame from opposite Gong Xiangyu and three from outside hitter Anna Haak to win the set 25-21 and tie the match at one set apiece.
Like the first set, Salt Lake pulled ahead late in the third to retake the match lead, and they led wire-to-wire in the fourth to clinch the win.
Playing on the left side, Temi Thomas-Ailra led Madison with 18 points – 17 from the attack – and added nine digs. Xiangyu landed 13 kills on a .480 attack efficiency while adding eight digs and three blocks, and Haak ended with 12 total points and 11 digs.
Setter Lauren Carlini provided 38 assists while Madison as a team hit .229.
Match MVP Alexa Gray led LOVB Salt Lake with 21 kills and an ace over the four sets. Heidy Casanova was a close second with 19 kills and a block.
Salt Lake outpaced Madison 61-50 in attack points while Madison had a 12-7 advantage in blocks.
“Our focus is going to Atlanta right now. That's where we want to put our focus. Put this match behind us. We want to come out and show the fans who we are on Saturday. We have the team to do that,” stated head coach Matt Fuerbringer.
LOVB Madison stays home for their next match as they host LOVB Atlanta on Saturday, February 7 at the Alliant Energy Center. The game will start at 1 p.m. Central. Tickets are available for purchase or fans can watch the game on ESPN+.
