CEDAR CITY, Utah - With two seasons under his belt as head coach of the Thunderbirds, SUU's Craig Choate is gearing up for his third season in Cedar City with a retooled roster full of fresh faces and returners that are primed to have a big season.  

2016 Recap

The Thunderbirds finished the 2016 season with a 4-24 record, in a year that a number of players went in and out of the lineup with a multitude of injuries.

The Thunderbirds picked up victories over San Jose State and North Texas at a Utah Valley University tournament, and picked up Big Sky Conference victories over Sacramento State and Montana.

"I tell the kids all the time, you can't fix a bad past you just have to move on," coach Choate said in regards to getting past a tough season and changing the mindset.

Youth Movement

Thunderbird fans will have a lot of new names to learn this season, as the volleyball program has brought in eight freshmen to rebuild the roster.

Mckenzie Van Uitert, Kacie Huntsman, Janet Kalaniuvalu, Elisa Lago, Alarie Anderson, Miranda Canez, Anna Cox and LeighAnne Taylor will all be donning a Thunderbird jersey for the first time in 2017, with four seasons to improve and build the program.

"I'm excited about how much more physical we are across the board," Choate said. "They're freshmen, so they don't know all the intricacies of the game so there's little things that we miss here and there, but we are bigger, stronger and faster everywhere. We will be a better product no matter what, so that's fun and it's really fun to coach."  

Top Returners

This season the Thunderbirds are only returning five players from the 2016 roster.

Two seniors are on the Thunderbird roster this season, with Macky Fifita and McCail Evans both entering their final season at Southern Utah. In 2016, Fifita racked up 129 kills during the season, along with accumulating 210 digs through the year. Despite dealing with an injury through most of the season, Fifita scored 155 points for the Thunderbirds. Evans was a blocking force for the Thunderbirds in 2016, finishing second on the team with 107 total blocks. She also had 144 kills in 2016 while appearing in 105 sets.

"We turned those two, and Sarah Vang into a leadership group, and they've done a great job," Choate said of his leaders. "They're talking to kids, they're taking care of business and they're making the freshmen come up to a certain standard that everybody was too shy to last year."  

The lone junior on the roster will be Rylee Rogers, who appeared in 91 sets for the Thunderbirds in 2016 as a defensive specialist. She finished the season with 49 digs.

Vang and Alexis Averett both had huge freshmen seasons for the Thunderbirds, and will now enter their sophomore seasons with a year of solid experience to learn from. Vang finished the season with 125 kills and 134 digs, and scored 148.5 points in 90 sets for SUU. Averett broke into the SUU record book with her 2016 performance, finding herself seventh all-time for a single season with 918 assists. She also finished third on the team with 220 digs.

"Last year we hope was a giant learning experience," Choate said. "Alexis, Rylee and Sarah are all better than they were last year, and in all three cases I would say it's a big jump."

Big Sky Coaches' Poll

The Big Sky Conference has released the Coaches' Poll for the 2017 season, and the Thunderbirds have been projected to finish 12th in the league this season.

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks, who are the reigning Big Sky regular season and tournament champions, have been selected by the coaches to once again be the top team in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Colorado has been tabbed second, receiving the two first place votes the Fighting Hawks did not get. Sacramento State has been picked to be the third best team in the league.

Showdown In Mesquite

The Thunderbirds will play their first exhibition competition on Monday against the UNLV Rebels, and the competition will take place at the Rising Star Sports Ranch Resort in Mesquite, Nevada.  

"I think it's huge," Choate said about the opportunity to get a match that won't count against the record under their belts. "The first time they put on the jersey, they're so enamored with the jersey and the fact it's their first collegiate competition that they almost forget about the match, so hopefully this puts all of that behind us when we actually play."

The match will be open to the public and will start at 7 p.m. Mountain Time (6:00 Pacific Time)

Follow Us

Stay updated on Monday's event by following @SUUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram along with liking the Southern Utah Volleyball page on Facebook.