CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah University volleyball team hits the road this week for their final non-conference matchups where they will play in the LBSU/UCI Tournament. The Thunderbirds will face a challenging trio of teams consisting of Fresno State and Loyola Marymount University on Friday at 11 AM MT and 6 PM MT and University of California Irvine on Saturday at 3 PM MT.
"As long as we keep on the upward improvement trend that we are on, then I am confident that this tournament will be beneficial for us heading into conference play next week," said SUU head coach Pete Hoyer. "The girls are getting better and better every week and I'm excited to see how we handle this weekend. These are some tough teams, but that just raises the bar and demands our best. We have been drilling serving and keeping our middles involved, so hopefully things play out well in those areas for us."
Last Time out
In the previous weekend's play, the Thunderbirds fell to Saint Mary's 2-3 , Hofstra University 0-3 and University of San Francisco 2-3 in the USF/St. Mary's Tournament.
Over the course of play, Janet Kalaniuvalu led the offense with 46 kills. Miranda Canez chipped in 16 kills and proved to be a key player in the middle blocker position. Miahna Waters led the defense with an impressive 51 total digs.
Kalaniuvalu was named on the all-tournament roster after conclusion of the weekend.
Opponent Preview: Fresno State (7-3)
The Bulldogs went 1-3 in last weekend's play in the Les Schwab West Coast Challenge. FSU beat Portland State 3-0 and then fell to Gonzaga 1-3 and California 0-3.
Taylor Slover and Jessica Gilbert prove to be the offensive threat for the bulldogs with 141 and 129 kills on the season. Defensively, Reagan Leonard holds down the back row with 214 total digs, while Montez Uigaese leads the front row with 46 total blocks.
Jonathan Winder continues his first season as head coach of the Bulldogs.
Opponent Preview: Loyola Marymount (8-1)
The Lions are on a five game win streak as they enter the tournament. Last weekend, in the Kansas Invitational, LMU swept Auburn and American 3-0 and beat Kansas 3-1.
With 132 kills on the season, Savannah Slattery leads the lions offensively. Sara Kovac also proves to be a threat on the net with 123 total kills and 13 blocks. On the defensive end of the court, Kekai Whitford is a top of the leaderboard with 134 digs.
Aaron Mansfield is in his second season with LMU volleyball.
Opponent Preview: University of California Irvine (3-6)
After downing Cleveland State and Bowling Green on Friday, the Anteaters lost to #11 Illinois 0-3 Saturday to conclude their play in the CSU Invitational. UCI is set to play Pepperdine this Wednesday before entering tournament play.
The majority of the Anteaters offensive is ran through outside hitter Loryn Carter who has 95 kills on the season. The next in line for total kills is Harlee Kekauoha who has 50. Haley DeSales averages 4.48 digs per set, totally 148 digs for the Anteaters defense.
Ashlie Hain is in the midst her fourth season as head coach for UCI.
Live Stats/Live Stream
Links to live stats and any available live streams will be available on www.suutbirds.com prior to the start of competition.
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Fans can visit www.tbirdtickets.com to purchase tickets for the 2018 Thunderbird volleyball season.
