PREVIEW | Thunderbird Volleyball Heads West to Continue Big Sky Play 

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah volleyball team will take their squad to California and Oregon this weekend to compete against Sacramento State and Portland State. 

"Our game plan is the same as it's been for the past two months," said head coach Pete Hoyer. "Focus on our side of the net, stay healthy and grind all the way to the end. Both these teams will be a competitive matchup and we will have to play great volleyball on the road."

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds went 1-1 at home during the opening week of Big Sky Conference play, making their current record 8-6 overall, 1-1 BSC. SUU fell 3-0 on Thursday evening to Idaho State. Saturday's match against Weber State ended in a five set, 3-2, victory over the Wildcats. The Thunderbirds now sit in fourth within BSC standings. 

During the Weber State match Shannon Webb set a personal single-match career record with 25 kills. She was followed by Katie Montgomery who had 10 kills of her own. Montgomery led in blocks with five followed by Raegan Ashby who had four. Webb also tallied the most digs on the night with 17. Corrin Peterson set a personal single-match career record with 52 assists. 

Opponent Preview: Sacramento State Hornets (6-9 Overall, 1-1 BSC)

The Hornets of Sacramento State went 1-1 during lasts weeks play as they stayed at home to face Eastern Washington and Idaho. Sacramento defeated Eastern Washington 3-1 on Thursday but fell 3-2 to Idaho on Saturday. The Hornets are in sixth within BSC standings. 

Sarah Davis leads the BSC and her team in kills with 226 on the season, averaging 3.83 kills per set. During last weeks play Davis tallied 12 kills against Eastern Washington and 24 against Idaho. Setter Ashtin Olin has 474 assists, averaging 8.46 assists per set. Defensively Paige Swinney leads the Hornets with 199 digs on the season, averaging 3.55 per set. 

Ruben Volta is amidst his twelfth season as head coach of the Hornets. 

Southern Utah will face Sacramento on Thursday, October 3, at 8:00 p.m. MT. See SUUTBirds.com for the live video and statistics streams that are available for this match. 

Opponent Preview: Portland State Vikings (5-8 Overall, 1-1 BSC)

The Vikings went 1-1 last week after defeating Eastern Washington 3-0 and falling to Idaho 3-0. PSU currently sits in seventh within the BSC standings. 

Parker Webb leads the Vikings offensively with 139 kills on the season followed closely by Toni McDougald who posts 135 kills. McDouglad led lasts weeks play for PSU by totaling 21 kills, 11 in each match. Caroline Dragani tallies the most assists with 354, averaging 7.87 per set. Ellie Snook sits atop the dig column with 245 digs on the season, averaging 5.00 per set. Snook sits in second within the BSC in total digs. Middle blocker Jordan White also is in second place in the conference but in the block category with 47 overall. 

Head coach Micheal Seemann is within his thirteenth year with the Hornets. 

Southern Utah will face Portland State on Saturday, October 5, at 8:00 p.m. MT. There will only be live statistics for this match which can be found on SUUTBirds.com. 

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