RECAP | Thunderbirds Earn Their First Win Of The Season In Phoenix

PHOENIX -- The Southern Utah volleyball team competed at the GCU Tournament on Saturday, September 1 where they faced the Boston College Eagles and the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The Thunderbirds lost their first game to Boston College 3-0. They came back in the last round of the tournament against the Gamecocks with a 3-0 sweep.

Boston College

At the beginning of the match, the Eagles and Thunderbirds stayed within one point of each other.  The teams continued to stay close until Boston pulled ahead with a 15-11 lead. The Thunderbirds caught up to the Eagles when they tied the score 22-22. However, Boston held the upper hand finishing the first match with a score of 24-26.

The second match started close until the Eagles took the lead on a 9-5 run and never looked back. The Thunderbirds fought back but the Eagles took the second set with 25-20.

Boston started out the third set with a 3-0 lead when the SUU called a time out. The Thunderbirds were not able to catch up the the Eagles. Boston took the final match with a score of 25-14 winning the game 3-0.

Janet Kalaniuvalu led the team over the course of the game with a total of 15 digs and 10 kills. Emma Mangum also had 10 kills and Thea Leiataua followed with a total of 11 digs.

Jacksonville State University

Southern Utah started the game strong by taking the lead. However, the Gamecocks stayed close behind. They soon caught up to the Thunderbirds tying the first set 6-6. The two teams battled for the upper hand all the way to the finish. The set finished with a close score of 28-26 for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds started leading a close game in the second match. The Gamecocks eventually caught up to the Thunderbirds. The two teams pushed for the lead until Jacksonville took the lead 19-15. The Thunderbirds caught the Gamecocks 20-20 when they fought to the finish. SUU finished the second set with a score of 29-27.

The third set of the game stayed as close as the first two. The Thunderbirds started with the lead but the Gamecocks soon caught up. The Gamecocks took a 13-10 lead but the Thunderbirds soon tied the score 14-14. The T-Birds took a 20-16 lead and finished the game with their first victory of the season scoring 25-20.

This was the Thunderbird's first win this season. Head Coach Pete Hoyer commented, "This win just validates what we've been working on. Jacksonville has a good coaching staff so we had to really grind for this one."

"They really switched gears from the game earlier today. They decided to stay positive and work together and that was a huge step for us," Hoyer said. "It will be a big factor into moving forward next week."

Over the course of the game, Janet Kalaniuvalu had 16 kills and Miahna Waters had 28 digs. Kalaniuvalu was also named as part of the All-Tournament Team.

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