PROVO — Life in League One Volleyball comes at you fast, or at least it has been for LOVB Salt Lake.
After starting the season 8-1 and surging to the top of the six-team league table, Salt Lake lost its fourth in a row Thursday night in the final of two matches this season at BYU's Smith Fieldhouse.
Ivonee Montano had 21 kills, two blocks and five digs as LOVB Atlanta fended off hosts LOVB Salt Lake 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 17-25, 18-16.
It's the fourth straight loss for LOVB Salt Lake, which dropped to 8-4 after back-to-back losses to Atlanta. LOVB Atlanta climbed to 7-5 and third in the six-team league with its second win in three matches against Salt Lake.
Claire Hoffman had 15 kills, three blocks and an ace to lead Salt Lake, which got 42 assists from Jordyn Poulter. Former BYU star Alexa Gray put down 10 kills on 19 swings, and fellow BYU alum Roni Jones-Perry supplied nine kills and three blocks.
"I'm proud of my crew's fight and their ability to just battle," LOVB Salt Lake coach Tama Miyashiro said. "We've had a couple of tough matches in a row, but I thought they came out and tried to play like it was a fresh start. We didn't get this one, but I think we're going to see a really fun battle of switching momentum and teams figuring out each other. ... It showed our depth. We weren't able to squeeze it out, but as hard as it is I'm really proud of my group."
Consistency issues have plagued Salt Lake, which still sits tied atop the league standings with LOVB Houston with seven remaining. So, who are the team's voices bringing the group together amid a four-match losing skid?
There's Poulter, the two-time Olympic medalist from Aurora, Colorado, who provides key leadership, as well as Gray and backup setter Madi Bugg, the former three-time All-American at Stanford. Same with Mary Lake, the former BYU All-American libero who returned to the game last year after starting a family and stepped into a serve specialist role while providing leadership from the bench.
Is this one of the best kills of the year?! 💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/nO9vFuFEF9
— League One Volleyball (@leagueonevb) March 6, 2026
"I think our team has a good balance of roles for those kinds of things," Jones-Perry said. "We've got a lot of great leaders and problem solvers on our team, and also just a lot of great teammates."
Jones-Perry put down eight kills in the first two sets as Salt Lake split the first two sets at 25-20 apiece. Gray rallied the hosts with a kill to take a 20-17 edge in the third set, but Atlanta came back to take the 2-1 lead with a 25-23 victory in the third set.
An ace by Gray helped Salt Lake tie up the fourth set at 13 points apiece, and the hosts helped tie the match at two sets apiece with a double block from Gray and Serena Gray (no relation) to force a decisive fifth set.
Serena Gray put away back-to-back kills as Salt Lake jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set, but LOVB Atlanta rallied back — three times, first to tie at 8-all and again at 10-10 and 11-11.
Atlanta took its first lead of the set at 13-12. But Alexa Gray pulled one right back to tie at 13-13, and Serena Gray fended off match point with a kill down the middle 14-14.
But Salt Lake couldn't hold on, dropping consecutive matches to Atlanta just four days apart as ATL stretched its own streak to six straight wins after a 2-5 start.
That's the nature of the league, where things change fast around six teams co-owned by the league headquarters designed for maximum parity and competition.
"Every team has so much depth, and when you have players who haven't played off season coming in bench — like Atlanta — it adds a whole other level of competitiveness," Serena Gray said. "This league is extremely competitive; it's hard to get wins."
Salt Lake will try to snap its skid Saturday at LOVB Nebraska (6 p.m. MST, Victory+). The club will return to SLCC's Bruin Arena to host Nebraska on March 14.
