Women's Volleyball 9/18/2018 5:17:00 PM Taylor Whitson - SUU Athletics Strategic Communication

Thunderbirds Set to Open Conference Play at Home

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah University volleyball team begins Big Sky Conference play this week as they look to defeat Weber State University on Thursday September 20 at 6:30 p.m. and Idaho State University on Saturday September 22 at 1 p.m. Both games can be seen on the Thunderbirds home court inside the America First Event Center.

"Our focus, like I've said all season, is on our side of the net," said head coach Pete Hoyer. "We are confident and we are comfortable in our house and we are so excited to be back home to open up conference matches. As a program, we are making adjustments towards the best path everyday and we are ready to defend our house."

Last Time Out

Last weekend SUU traveled to California to compete in the LBSU/UCI Tournament. While away, the Thunderbirds fell to Fresno State 3-1 and Loyola Marymount 1-3 on Friday, then played one last game Saturday where they lost to University of California Irvine 3-0.

At the conclusion of tournament play, Janet Kalaniuvalu led SUU's offense with 33 kills. Libero Miahna Waters tallied 41 digs for the Thunderbirds, followed next by Kalaniuvalu who had 26 digs for the weekend. SUU stayed strong from the service line with 12 aces.

Opponent Preview: Weber State (5-4)

Over the course of non-conference play the Wildcats have stayed relatively close to home travel wise, playing teams like Seattle, Utah Valley, and BYU to name a few. The Wildcats have split their win/loss column almost straight down the middle at 5-4.

Offensively, their leaders on the court are outside hitter Andrea Hale and middle blocker Megan Gneiting. Both Wildcats average over three kills per set, totalling 124 (Hale) and 106 (Gneiting) for the season. Hale also has a notable 11 total service aces.On the defensive end, the Wildcats mainly rely on the work of outside hitter Rylin Roberts who has 128 digs and libero Katelyn Erwin who has 83 digs.

Head coach Jeremiah Larsen has been with Weber for three years.

Opponent Preview: Idaho State (6-7)

The Tigers have also had a fairly even non-conference experience, winning six out of their seven matchups.

Senior Abby Garrity is a top the Tigers kill column with 185 on the season, followed by teammate Nicole Lee who totals 134 kills. Libero/DS Haylie Keck posts an impressive 17 service aces and 248 digs for the Tigers. Defensively, the closest teammate to Keck is Chelsea Johnson who has 89 digs for the season.

Rick Reynolds is in the midst of his third year as head coach for Idaho State Volleyball.

The Tigers will play Northern Arizona University on Thursday before they travel to SUU.

Live Stats/Live Stream

A live stream for Southern Utah's match against Weber State and Idaho State will be available on suutbirds.com
Links to live stats 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.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Janet Kalaniuvalu: OH; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#1 Miahna Waters: L; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Janet Kalaniuvalu
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: OH

#1 Miahna Waters
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: L

Players Mentioned

#10 Janet Kalaniuvalu

#1 Miahna Waters

Players Mentioned

#10 Janet Kalaniuvalu

#1 Miahna Waters