LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Southern Utah University volleyball team opened their final tournament of non conference play in Long Beach, Calif., falling to Fresno State and Loyola Marymount on Friday September 14, 2018.

Loyola Marymount University 3 , Southern Utah 1

Leading both the offensive and defensive tonight for Southern Utah, Janet Kalaniuvalu totaled 10 kills and seven digs. Anna Hopkins had eight kills, followed by Alexis Averett who had five kills of her own and two service aces.

"I am extremely proud of the girls for starting much faster in this match tonight," said Head coach Pete Hoyer. "We played tough from the service line and did our best on the net, but you're not going to win a women's volleyball match with only 26 total digs. When we had them out of system, we tore it up, but it just wasn't enough at the end of the night".

The Lions came out hitting hard with 5-1 lead before the Thunderbirds were able to rally back and slowly get within reach of the Lions. Capitalizing on service errors made by LMU, the Thunderbirds were able to get within one point by the end of the match when their offense, led by Kalaniuvalu, swung away trying to get the edge over the Lions. Despite fighting hard, the Thunderbirds dropped the first set 25-21.

Going into the second set with a fire underneath them, the Thunderbirds kept the score relatively tight during the second match in which they won 26-24. With Emma Mangum and Kalaniuvalu on the net, SUU was able to cause disarray for the Lions hitters. By blocking the hitters position and causing attack errors, the Thunderbirds were able to hold onto their lead and take the second set, leaving the match tied at 1-1.

The Thunderbirds played with a chip on their shoulder during the third set after LMU fired off two service aces in a row, putting the Lions up early in the set 5-2. Kalaniuvalu, with a successful attack, earned a side out for the Thunderbirds followed by an ace made by Averett. LMU answered back with two service aces, continuing to extend their from the 17-14 mark until the 23-14 mark where Miranda Canez had a kill adding one point to the SUU scoreboard. The lions closed the third set 25-15, putting them up 2-1 in the match.

Though also ending in a 25-15 Lions win, the fourth set was a much different game than the third set. The Thunderbirds were never able to control the lead as they trailed the Lions for the entire match. The defense for SUU was struggling to dig any sort of hit played to them. LMU took the set, as well as the match, ending the night with a 4-1 victory over the Thunderbirds.

Fresno State 3 , Southern Utah 1
Kalanuivalu led the Thunderbirds in kills with 15. Anna Hopkins and Mangum added eight and six, respectively. Miahna Waters led the team in digs with 21 as Averett finished on top in assists with 32.

The Fresno State Bulldogs came out strong, breaking ahead for a 21-8 lead to hit off the game before the Thunderbirds battled back with a five-point rally to cut the gap to 21-14. The Bulldogs responded quickly to capture a 25-15 set one victory.

Southern Utah powered through the opening points of the second set for a 4-2 lead before extending the gap to 8-5. The Bulldogs fought from behind to knot the game at 9s before the set went back and forth until back-to-back kills by Janet and a service ace from Averett game the Thunderbirds a two-point lead at 21-19. SUU carried the momentum to push through for a 25-21 set win and tie up the match, 1-1.

The third was handled by Fresno State as the Bulldogs held onto an early lead to guide them through the set for a 25-9 victory.

The final set saw a lot of back and forth action tying 10 separate times. The final tie came at 19-19 before the Bulldogs pulled ahead in the final points of the game for a 25-22 win, earning a 3-1 victory over the Thunderbirds.

Next Up

Southern Utah will wrap up tournament play tomorrow at 3:00 MT as they take on the University of California Irvine.

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