CEDAR CITY, Utah - After a trying first week of conference play at home, the Thunderbirds look to turn things around this week on the road against conference rivals Weber State University and Idaho State University. Southern Utah will be taking the court against Weber State Thursday night at 7 p.m. MT. After that match, they will compete against the Bengals of Idaho State Saturday night at 7 p.m. MT.

Last Time Out
Southern Utah started off strong in their first match against North Dakota last week. They stunned the conference leading Fighting Hawks by playing some of their best volleyball of the season to go up one game to zero. Anna Cox was a huge barrier at the net for the opposing hitters picking up nine blocks for the match. After the first set, though, North Dakota turned things around by taking the next three sets and the victory.

The second match of the week for the Thunderbirds was against Northern Arizona. MaCail Evans was the dominant force for Southern Utah in this match with 11 kills and a .321 hitting percentage. Despite that, 15 kills from outside hitter Kaylin Jorgenson and some great defensive plays from the Lumberjacks ultimately proved too much.

Northern Arizona won the match in three sets.  

Opponent Preview: Weber State University

Weber State has had a difficult start to the year so far. The Wildcats are currently 2-12 and on a three game losing streak. However, Weber State does the have the ability to take their game to another level. Their two wins for the season have come against Utah Valley University and Northeastern University. Northeastern has a respectable 9-6 record on the season and was an impressive win for the Wildcats.

Senior, Amanda Varley, has been the face of the Wildcat's offense this season. She leads the team with 164 kills and a .150 hitting percentage.

Weber State's conference record thus far is 0-2 after the week of conference play.

Opponent Preview: Idaho State University

After an encouraging 3-2 start to the season, the Bengals have struggled ever since. Currently, they are on a 10-game losing streak putting their record at 3-12. Their wins have come against South Dakota, Middle Tennessee, and Belmont.

The Bengals are led by the two-pronged attack of Abby Garita and Chloe Hirst. Garita averages 3.22 kills per set with a .210 hitting percentage. Hirst averages 3.39 kills per set and a .181 hitting percentage.

After the first week of conference play, the Bengals are 0-2 in Big Sky matchups.

Live Stats/Live Stream

A live stream of Thursday's match will be on PlutoTV. The PlutoTV app can be downloaded to access PlutoTV programming, or visit pluto.tv/watch for all conference matches.

Live stats will be available for both matches.

The links can be found at suutbirds.com

Follow Us

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