RECAP | Thunderbird Volleyball Swept in Three by Montana State

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The Southern Utah volleyball team traveled to Bozeman, Montana on Thursday evening to face the Bobcats of Montana State University. The T-Birds fell in three close sets, making their current record 13-14 overall and 6-9 in Big Sky Conference play. 

"The first set we were a bit high error but during the second and third set our offense was rolling," said head coach Pete Hoyer. "They (Montana State) were able to sustain the longer rallies better than we were and our defense lacked. If we clean up our defense, blocking included, we will be in good shape against Montana on Saturday." 

Stacey Hone led both teams in kills with 16 on the match. Shannon Webb and Madison Williams followed with nine each, respectively. Corrin Peterson continued to lead the team in assists, racking up 35. Defensively, Thea Leiataua led in digs with 13, followed closely by Peterson who had 12. 

The Thunderbirds trailed the Bobcats early before knotting the score at 7-7. Things tied up again at 9-9, 10-10, and 11-11. SUU pushed ahead by two at 13-11 but the Bobcats caught up, knotting the score for the fifth time in the set at 13-13. Montana State came out of the tie on top as they extended their lead to four at 19-15. The T-Birds comeback effort fell short as the Bobcats took the set 25-21. 

The second set knotted at 10-10 before SUU went up by two. The Thunderbirds held their lead until the score tied again at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18. The T-Birds took the lead, going up by two once again at 21-19. Montana State came back to match SUU at 23-23. SUU went up by one at 24-23 and MSU called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Bobcats rallied to take the set 26-24. 

The third set looked similar to the first and second sets as the score knotted at 10-10 and 13-13. This time Montana went 5-1 scoring run to push their lead to 17-13. SUU fought back to bring things within two at 21-19 but the Bobcats held onto their lead until the end of the match. MSU took the set 25-21, earning a 3-0 match win. 

Next Up 

The Thunderbirds are set to play the Grizzlies of the University of Montana on Saturday, November 16, at 7:00 p.m. 

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