FULLERTON, Calif. - The Thunderbirds left everythingon the court in their first match of the Fullerton/Riverside Classic today against Howard University. In their most impressive performance of the year, Southern Utah beat a Howard team that had a 26-6 record last season. The Thunderbirds also exhibited more depth than they have all season. Four of their players had double digits in the kills column along with three putting up double digit digs. With the kind of performance they put up today, Southern Utah should come in with a lot of confidence for their matches against Chicago State and CSU Fullerton tomorrow.

To kick off the match, the Thunderbirds came out swinging. Howard did the best they could to hang on amidst the offensive onslaught of Macky Fifita and Janet Kalaniuvalu, but in the end, it proved too much. With 17 kills, a .412 hitting percentage, and only errors from the Thunderbirds there is no wonder why.

After such a dynamic first set from Southern Utah, the Bison seemed to regroup and get the Thunderbirds out of their groove. Outside hitters Jessica Young and Khalia Donaldson came alive in this set for Howard with over 20 kills each for the match. The Bison jumped ahead early and never looked back evening the score by winning this set 25-11.

The third set was a roller coaster from start to finish. No team was ever ahead by more than a couple points and that trend continued far past 25 points. The Thunderbirds had the first two set points but lost them on an attack error and a kill. After that, the Bison took charge and had four set points. Southern Utah held them off on each one though and finally pulled through 31-29.

The fourth set was tight from start to finish as well. Howard held onto the lead for most of the set but only by a couple points. A few clutch kills from freshman Miranda Canez kept the Thunderbirds in it. With the score tied at 23-23 a service error from Southern Utah and a kill from Kira Porter of Howard helped the Bison pull through 25-23.

If the third set was fun to watch then this set was a dream for any volleyball fan. Following the same pattern of the match, no team was able to gain a clear advantage. Both teams played high quality volleyball. The Bison had a hitting percentage of .348 and the Thunderbirds hit .417. Neither team was going to give this one away. Howard was the first team to draw blood forcing Southern Utah to save two match points. With the score then tied at 15-15, Fifita and MaCail Evans came through with two consecutive kills to seal the victory.

Fifita, Kalaniuvalu, Canez, and Evans all came through with at least ten kills for the day. Along with that, the Thunderbirds recorded a season high hitting percentages of .412 in the first set and .417 in the fifth set.

Moving Forward

The Thunderbirds will be playing their remaining two matches in the Fullerton/Riverside classic tomorrow at 2 p.m. MT against Chicago State University and 9 p.m. MT against CSU Fullerton.

Live Stats/Stream

Live stats will be available for all games over the weekend.

The link can be found at http://www.fullertontitans.com/sports/w-volley/2017-18/Fullerton_Classic_Hub

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