Southern Utah Entering Second Leg of Conference Schedule this Weekend

Women's Volleyball 10/29/2010 4:18:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Five-Set Funk Continues for SUU Volleyball in Defeat to South Dakota State

CEDAR CITY, Utah - Oct. 28 - Southern Utah women's volleyball captured the first set and forced a fifth set with a victory in the fourth against South Dakota State on Thursday night, but for the third time in as many matches suffered a defeat in the deciding set. The loss drops the T-Birds to 11-11 on the year and 9-4 in conference play.

"I just don't think we are playing with as much heart as we were at the beginning of the year," head coach Debby Baker said after the match. The team had enjoyed a perfect 5-0 mark in five-set matches to begin the year, but have since gone 0-3.

Southern Utah came out quickly in the first set, capturing the first three points en route to an early 3-0 lead. The margin continued to grow throughout the set until a 6-1 SDSU run midway through the frame tied the game at 14-14. Two more points by the Jackrabbits gave them their first lead of the match at 16-14, but SUU answered with five unanswered points capped by a Jordan Anderson service ace.

Back-to-back kills at the end of the set punctuated the 25-19 victory for the Thunderbirds, but the team would go on to suffer defeats of 25-20 and 25-18 over the next two sets. Southern Utah hitters were not able to get good contact on the ball during the losing sets, including a negative hitting performance during the third set (-.021).

However, SUU was able to bounce back and capitalized on a negative hitting performance (-.041) by SDSU during the fourth set to force a deciding fifth. The fourth set included another quick 3-0 start by the 'Birds, but finished with late ties at 22-22 and 23-23. A Jazmine Ma'afala kill and a final block by Tess Lawrence and Brittney Clark wrapped up the set 25-23 for the Thunderbirds.

The quick start in the final set belonged to the Jackrabbits as SDSU opened with a 3-0 lead, forcing an SUU timeout. The margin grew to as much as five, 9-4, until a 3-1 run by Southern Utah trimmed the deficit to three, 10-7. However, it was as close as the Thunderbirds would come, suffering a final 15-9 defeat.

Analaine Pelaez led SUU with 13 kills, but also led the team with 14 errors, hitting negative for the only the second time all season (-.019). Southern Utah had its best blocking performance in school history during the match as the team tallied a school-record 17 blocks with Cashaana Renfro leading the way with a school-record 10. South Dakota State's Kelli Fiegen led all hitters with 20 kills during the night, hitting .425.

Southern Utah will be back in action on Saturday night when the Thunderbirds host the North Dakota State Bison. NDSU is currently second in the Summit League with SUU sitting in third place. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#8 Jordan Anderson: DS; 5' 11"; Junior

#3 Brittney Clark: S; 5' 9"; Senior

#10 Tess Lawrence: MB; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#12 Jazmine Ma'afala: OH; 5' 10"; Senior

#6 Cashaana Renfro: MB; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#8 Jordan Anderson
: 5' 11"; Junior
: DS

#3 Brittney Clark
: 5' 9"; Senior
: S

#10 Tess Lawrence
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: MB

#12 Jazmine Ma'afala
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OH

#6 Cashaana Renfro
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: MB