PREVIEW | Thunderbird Volleyball Prepares for Last Two Home Matchups

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah volleyball team wraps up their final regular season play this week as they stay at home to face the University of Idaho Vandals and the Eastern Washington Eagles. Thursday's match against the Vandals will be at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday's match will be at 1:00 p.m. with senior recognition to follow.  

"This is an exciting week for SUU Volleyball." said head coach Pete Hoyer. "We are in a position this week to punch our ticket to the Big Sky Tournament for the first time since 2015, on our home court. We have two worthy opponents standing in our way.  If you are a competitor, you can't ask for a better scenario."

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds fell in both Big Sky matches last weekend as Montana State swept them 3-0 and Montana defeated them 3-1. The Thunderbirds are now 13-15 overall and 6-10 in BSC. After last weeks play, the T-Birds sit in seventh among Big Sky rankings. The top eight teams will travel to Sacramento November 28-30, for the Big Sky Conference Championships. 

Stacey Hone lead the Thunderbirds in kills as she tallied 27 over the course of the week. Corrin Peterson dished out a total of 78 assists. Thea Leiataua led the T-Birds in digs with a total of 27. Katie Montgomery posted seven blocks over the weekend, six of them coming from the Montana match. 

Opponent Preview: University of Idaho Vandals (13-15 Overall, 9-7 BSC)

The Vandals went 1-1 in last weeks competition as they first defeated Eastern Washington 3-1 then fell to UNC 3-0. Idaho sits in sixth within Big Sky standings and has secured their spot in the Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament. 

Kennedy Warren leads the Vandals in kills with 361 on the season, averaging 3.19 kills per set. Donnee Janzen tallies the most assists for the Vandals with 506, averaging 9.73 assists per set. Delaney Hopen is atop the digs column as she totals 446 digs for Idaho, averaging 3.95 per set. 

Debbie Buchanan is amid her twentieth season as head coach at Idaho. 

The Thunderbirds will face the Vandals inside the America First Event Center on Thursday, November 21, at 6:30 p.m. MT. This match will be held in benefit of Cancer Awareness.

Opponent Preview: Eastern Washington University Eagles (6-22 Overall, 4-12 BSC)

The Eagles fell to 3-1 to the University of Idaho and 3-0 to the University of Northern Colorado during last weeks competition. EWU is last in Big Sky standings. 

Ashlyn Blotzer leads the Eagles offense with 227 kills on the season, averaging 2.14 kills per set. Ana Paula Zandona tallies 823 assists on the year, averaging 7.99 assists per set. Puaoolelagi Sao leads EWU's defense with 343 digs on the season, averaging 3.27 digs per set. Blotzer is also atop the block column as she leads the Eagles with 68 total blocks. 

Leslie Flores-Cloud is amid her second season with EWU. 

The Thunderbirds will face the Eagles on Senior Night, Saturday November 23, at 1:00 p.m. MT. 

Directly following Saturday's match, SUU will recognize Alexis Averett, Thea Leiataua and Shannon Webb as they are the Thunderbirds seniors, playing in their final home matchup. 

This game day is sponsored by State Bank of Southern Utah. 

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