CHARLOTTE, N.C.  - The Thunderbirds kicked off their efforts at the 2017 Charlotte Invitational today against Elon University and UNC Charlotte on Friday. Despite a strong effort by senior Macky Fifita, the Thunderbirds ended up falling in both matches, including a heartbreaking loss against UNC Charlotte.

Charlotte 3, SUU 2

The Thunderbirds got off to a quick start in the first set of their second match of the day. Fifita owned the net and racked up 29 kills for the match, the second highest in school history. Behind her offense and some strong defensive play the Thunderbirds got on the board early winning the first set 25-22.

Things in the second set pretty much followed the patterns in the first set. Fifita was hitting kills left and right, and the Thunderbirds asserted their dominance attacking almost 40 times more than the 49ers did throughout the match. Despite this strong offensive attack, the 49ers hung close, but the story was same at the end of this set with the Thunderbirds winning 25-22.

Going into the third set, the Thunderbirds followed the same game plan. Halfway through the set, it looked as if they might sweep the match, but a surge from the 49ers led to a different outcome. The result of this set was the reverse of the first two with the 49ers taking it 25-22.

The fourth set was where the 49ers fortunes started turning out for the better. Despite a couple late runs by Southern Utah, Charlotte were able to hang on and force a fifth set winning 25-21.

A few too many errors from Southern Utah led to the 49ers being able to steal this match away in the fifth set, taking it 15-6.

With the second most kills in school history, Fifita swung on 88 balls which set its own school record. Freshman Janet Kalaniuvalu finished with 10 kills and Alexis Averett finished the night with 63 assists.  

Elon 3, SUU 1

Things started pretty slow for the Thunderbirds when it came to attacking at the net in their first game against North Carolina. The Elon Phoenix had a commanding 17 kills and a .333 hitting percentage in the first set while Southern Utah was held to a .140 hitting percentage and 11 kills. Thanks to some scrappy play the Thunderbirds were able to keep things close until about halfway through the first set until Elon pulled away, 25-17.

Coming into the second set, the Thunderbirds started to pick things up offensively and defensively. Fifita dominated at the net with 19 kills throughout the match with only four errors. On defense, the Thunderbirds put Elon's attack all out of sorts decreasing their hitting percentage to .184. Near the end of the set, the Thunderbirds pulled ahead by a couple points and looked poised to tie things up at one set a piece, but then Elon came charging back to win the last three points of the set and go up two sets to none.

The Thunderbirds would not be denied in the third set though. With another impressive defensive performance, including three blocks from Anna Cox throughout the match, Southern Utah held Elon to another low hitting percentage and forced nine errors. Finding their groove, they seemed in control all set, but a surge from Elon made it close at the end. Eventually, the Thunderbirds pulled through 25-23.

Heading into the fourth set, it felt as though the Thunderbirds had lost some of their steam and Elon pulled through to win the final set of the match 25-12.

Despite the losses, Southern Utah showed promise on Friday with momentum heading into Saturday.

Moving Forward

The Thunderbirds will have a pair of matches to round out their North Carolina trip on Saturday. They will take on South Carolina State at 7 a.m. MT and Belmont at 1 p.m. MT.

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