RECAP | Southern Utah Tops Eastern Washington on Senior Night 

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird volleyball program defeated the Eastern Washington Eagles in four sets on Saturday afternoon. This match was the final home competition for Alexis Averett, Thea Leiataua and Shannon Webb, the Thunderbird seniors. The Thunderbirds finish the regular season 15-15 overall, winning 15 games for the first time since 2015. They also qualified for the Big Sky Tournament for the first time since 2015 and will enter the tournament as the seventh seed.

"I am proud of the way we stabilized," said head coach Pete Hoyer. "Credit to Eastern Washington for coming here and putting up a fight. They made us compete and made this final win at home for the seniors all the more gratifying. Each of those girls (seniors) has had an opportunity to walk away from volleyball; Lex with her shoulder, Thea and her transferring to a school without the coach she was recruited by and Shannon making the decision of leaving her previous university. To see each of them become better players and women has been a highlight of my coaching career." 

Shannon Webb led the Thunderbirds in kills with 21, followed by Stacey Hone who had 19. Corrin Peterson set a new SUU single-game assist record as she dished out 66 on the evening. Webb also led SUU in digs with 19. Mckenzie Dowell led in blocks with seven.

The Thunderbirds opened their last home competition by taking a two point lead over the Eagles at the 10 point mark. Eastern Washington caught up to SUU at 12-12 and then took a two point lead at 14-12 before SUU was able to side out. The score knotted at 17-17 and the Eagles pulled ahead 20-18. A block from Montgomery put the T-Birds even with the Eagles at 24-24. As play continued the set knotted ten times, from 25-25 to 34-34, before SUU edged out the set win at 36-34. The final point for the Thunderbirds was a net brushing service ace from Montgomery.

In the second set, SUU met EWU at 10-10 then pushed ahead 12-10 where the Eagles called their first timeout of the set. Eastern Washington took their first lead of the set at 14-13. SUU came back to tie the set at 17-17. The Thunderbirds regained control of the set, taking their second victory of the night at 25-21. 

Eastern Washington went on a 5-0 scoring run to open the third set. The Eagles continued to extend their lead to eight at 11-3 before a kill from Leiataua gave SUU a side out. The Thunderbirds weren't able to recover from the deficit as the Eagles took the third set 25-20. 

The fourth set began with the Thunderbirds making their way to ten first as the Eagles trailed by three. After three straight service aces, Eastern Washington came within one of SUU at 13-12. EWU took their first lead of the set at 14-13 but a kill from Stacey Hone knotted the score at 14-14. Hoyer called his second timeout of the set at 18-15 where the Thunderbirds trailed by three. After the break, SUU tied the set 24-24 and 25-25. Hone tipped the ball over to push the score to 26-25. The Thunderbirds went on to win the set 27-25, taking the match 3-1. 

"This match was a great way to lead into the Big Sky Conference Tournament," said Hoyer. "The opportunity in front of us is one that this program hasn't seen for three years and to be able to take this team there after all adversity they've seen this year, is awesome." 

Next Up 

The Thunderbirds are set to compete in the Big Sky Conference Tournament starting Thursday, November 28. 

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