Thunderbirds Can't Find Hitting Groove in Loss at NDSU

FARGO, N.D. - Oct. 7 - Southern Utah University struggled to find its offensive groove on Friday night as the Thunderbirds dropped a three-set match at North Dakota State, 25-14, 25-9, 25-10. The loss drops the T-Birds to 4-14 overall and 2-6 in Summit League play.

"I'm disappointed in the result," head coach Debby Baker said after the match. "We had a great practice today and great practices all week, but came out flat and I am just disappointed in our effort."

The Thunderbirds took a lead of 8-6 in the opening set, but a 12-1 North Dakota State run reversed the teams' fortunes and gave the Bison an 18-9 lead. The Bison took the first set with a final score of 25-14.

Southern Utah couldn't find its hitting mojo in the second set, tallying a negative hitting percentage (-.185) with eight errors and only three kills on 27 attempts. The lapse kept the T-Birds out of sorts as NDSU wrapped up the second set 25-9.

SUU limited the errors in the third set, but couldn't overcome a slow start as the Bison took a quick 12-4 lead and forced a Thunderbird timeout. The margin grew to 17-9 and led to another T-Bird timeout. Analaine Pelaez-Mailoto recorded a kill out of the break, but North Dakota State finished out the set with an eight-point run to take the match 25-10.

Pelaez-Mailoto led Southern Utah's attack with seven kills with Brynn Joki leading NDSU with 14 kills.

SUU will be back in action on Saturday night as the team concludes the first half of Summit League action at South Dakota State. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. (MT) in Brookings with live stats anticipated to be available online at www.suutbirds.com.

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