CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah University volleyball team won their first home game of the season on Thursday, November 15. The Thunderbirds took down the Eagles of Eastern Washington University earning lone senior Rylee Rogers a 3-0 win on her senior night.

Outside hitter Emma Mangum led the Thunderbirds in kills with 14, trailed by Kalaniuvalu who had 13 and Miranda Canez who had eight. Katie Montgomery topped the block column with six, three of them were solo. Libero Miahna Waters is now second in SUU individual season digs with 511 on the season, 15 of them coming out of tonight's match. Alexis Averett totaled 34 assists and 3.5 points.

"It's everything a senior dreams of," Rogers said. "Everyone showed up and played well. I think it's great momentum going into the next game against Idaho and we are just really excited."

The Thunderbirds started on a 5-0 scoring run but the Eagles made their way within one at 8-7. Two back-to-back blocks by Montgomery pulled SUU up by four at 11-7. The Thunderbirds held their largest lead of the set at 17-12 after a pair of kills from Thea Leiataua and Mangum and an ace from Montgomery. The Eagles swung their way within one at 21-20 with a point percentage of 45.5. An EWU service error at 22-20 earned SUU possession. A kill from Mangum on the outside earned the Thunderbirds a set win 25-22.

During the second set the Eagles put themselves up by one at 6-5 but the Thunderbirds were quick to tie it at 6. Continuing in set play the score tied six more times before reaching 20. The Thunderbirds gained the lead at 17-16 after a kill by Canez. SUU continued to pull ahead capitalizing on their outside hitters. A 4-0 scoring run gave the Thunderbirds their second set win of the night at 25-19.

The third set began with the Eagles ahead but it didn't take long for the Thunderbirds to knot the score at six and pull ahead by two at 11-9. Mangum and Kalaniuvalu combined kills to bring SUU up by five at 18-13. The Eagles then went on a 4-0 run to come within one at 18-17 but a kill by Mangum gave the Thunderbirds possession. A tip by Alexis Averett won the set 25-22, earning a 3-0 match win for the Thunderbirds.

"This win keeps us alive," head coach Pete Hoyer said. "We took care of what we needed to today and we hope to play our best volleyball heading into Saturday's match. We are going to have to compete but I know we can do that. Our team is capable, we want that spot in the conference tournament."

SUU is now 6-23 overall, 5-12 in Big Sky play.

The Thunderbirds play their last regular season match in Moscow, Idaho on Saturday, November 17, against the University of Idaho Vandals.

Stay updated on the Thunderbirds 24/7 by following @SUUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram along with liking the Southern Utah Volleyball page on Facebook.