RECAP | Southern Utah Grinds Out Four-Set Win Over Montana State 

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird volleyball program downed the Montana State Bobcats in four sets on Saturday afternoon. SUU is now 11-7 overall and 4-2 in Big Sky play. 

"What a fight," said head coach Pete Hoyer. "To pick up this win against a very well-coached Montana State team is huge. This team once again played through a tough battle and our middles stepped up to the challenge." 

Katie Montgomery set a career high in kills as she led the Thunderbirds with 16 kills. Stacey Hone also tallied 16 kills for SUU. Raegan Ashby totaled four blocks. Thea Leiataua led defensively with 19 digs. Corrin Peterson set a new personal career assist record with her 56 on the night.  

The score stayed close early in the first set as things tied up at 4-4 but it was the Thunderbirds who pulled away after a 4-0 scoring run. SUU pushed their lead to 14-8 where the Bobcats took their first timeout. The Bobcats made a small comeback effort by going on a 5-1 scoring run to bring the score to 23-18. The Thunderbirds kept hold of their lead and took the first set 25-19. 

The second set knotted at 4-4 as well and it was SUU who pulled away again. The Thunderbirds went up by three at 8-5. The Bobcats came back to tie the score at 12-12. Montana State continued their 6-1 scoring run until 16-13 where SUU was able to side out and score. The Bobcats quickly earned the ball back at 17-15. Montana State finished the second set on top at 25-19. 

SUU crossed the 10 point mark first in the third set but they were closely trailed by MSU who had seven. The score knotted at 11-11 and 12-12 with Alexis Averett back to serve for SUU. The Bobcats pulled away by two at 16-14 where SUU called their first timeout of the set. The Thunderbirds came out of the break to take the lead at 18-16, going on a 4-0 scoring run. The Bobcats called a timeout and the Thunderbirds came out scoring four more. Montana State called their second timeout at 22-17 as the Thunderbirds led by five. The T-Birds took the set 25-21. 

The score knotted four times before the 10 point mark in the fourth set. SUU lead at 10-9 but the scored tied four times before the 16-15 where MSU led by one. SUU held their largest lead of the set at 18-16. The Bobcats comeback effort brought the score to 19-19. The score knotted again at 21-21 but a kill from Webb put the Thunderbirds up by one. SUU went on the set 25-22, taking the match 3-1. 

Next Up

The Thunderbirds will face the Eagles of Eastern Washington on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. 

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