TOURNAMENT RECAP | Southern Utah Volleyball Goes 1-2 in Florida Atlantic Classic 

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah Volleyball team visited Boca Raton, Florida this weekend to compete in the Florida Atlantic University Classic. The Thunderbirds went 1-2 over the course of play, defeating Bethune-Cookman University 3-0 and falling 0-3 to FAU and Boston College. 

"Although not the overall result we wanted," said assistant coach Lorelle Hoyer. "This trip was a good learning experience. We faced tough competition and I have no doubt that each of the three teams we faced will go into their respective conferences and make some noise. We are excited to get back in the gym Monday, clean up a few technical things and prepare for our trip to Reno next weekend."

Offensively Shannon Webb led the Thunderbirds in kills with a total of 36, trailed by Stacey Hone who had 32 kills. On the defensive end, Miahna Waters led SUU in digs with 32 and Mckenzie Dowell led in blocks with four. Corrin Peterson totaled 92 assists, 45 of them coming from the Bethune-Cookman match. 

Florida Atlantic University (0-3)

Opening tournament play against the host team, the Thunderbirds fell to the Owls in three. Hone led the Thunderbirds offensively with 11 kills, followed by Webb who had eight of her own. Webb led the team in digs with 10, alongside Thea Leiataua and Waters who had eight a piece. Peterson tallied 24 assists. 

The Thunderbirds stayed close to the Owls for the eternity of the first set. The score knotted eight times before either team crossed the 15 point mark. It was the Owls who pulled away at 17-13. The Thunderbirds called a timeout but their comeback effort was not enough as the Owls held their lead until the end of the set at 25-21. 

The Owls jumped ahead by three to open the second set. The Thunderbirds tried to cut FAU's lead down at the 12-7 mark by going on a 3-0 run but the Owls answered back with a 6-0 run of their own putting themselves up by nine (18-9). The separation was too much for the Thunderbirds to come back from as they dropped the set 25-16. 

The third set stayed close before the 10 point mark, but the Owls took their largest lead to that point at 11-7. The Thunderbirds fought back by going on a 6-2 run, putting themselves within three at 21-18 but it wasn't enough. FAU closed the set 25-18, claiming the match 3-0. 

Bethune-Cookman (3-0)

The Thunderbirds defeated the Wildcast in three swift sets during the second match of the tournament. Webb finished as SUU's kill leader with 17 followed by Hone who chipped in 14. Katie Montgomery led in aces with three and in blocks with two. Waters led in digs with 13, trailed by Sarah Gasper who had 11 digs of her own. Peterson set a new career high of 45 assists.  

The Thunderbirds opened the first set by going up 6-0 over the Wildcats. The Wildcats weren't able to come within six of the Thunderbirds for the rest of the set. SUU closed things out by going up by 13, winning the set 25-12. 

The Wildcats stayed within one until the 7-5 mark and within three until the 16-13 mark. The Thunderbirds proved to be too much for the Wildcats as they went on a 7-1 run to take the set 25-15. 

The third set belonged to the Thunderbirds from the first serve. They took their largest lead of the set at 19-10. The Wildcats made a small comeback effort, bringing themselves within five at 21-16, but SUU finished things out for the match by taking the set 25-17. 

Boston College (0-3)

Atop the kill column was Webb once again as she tallied nine kills in the Thunderbirds loss to Boston College. Defensively Dowell led in blocks with three and Waters led in digs with 11. Peterson tallied 23 assists. 

The Thunderbirds were the first on the scoreboard in set one,but the Eagles quickly separated themselves going up by five on the Thunderbirds at 9-4. Their lead extended to 15-7 and SUU, led by Webb made a comeback effort to come within four at 15-11. Boston College made another four point run pushing the score to 19-11 where SUU called a timeout. The Eagles ran up the score and took the match 25-12. 

Mackenzie Dowell let the early push for the Thunderbirds as they went up by two at 6-4 to begin the second set. Boston College came back to tie things up at 6-6, then put away three more before SUU called a timeout. An ace from Dowell tied things up at 14-14 and a kill from Leiataua put SUU ahead once again at 15-14. The lead shifted back and forth three more times before the 20 point mark where Boston College went up 20-18. The Eagles finished the second set on top 25-21. 

The third set stayed within two until the 8-6 mark where Boston College went on a 3-0 scoring run, putting the Eagles up by five. As play continued Boston College extended their lead to 19-11. The Thunderbirds comeback effort wasn't enough as the Eagles took the set 25-18.

Next Time Out

The Thunderbirds will head out to Reno, Nevada September 20-21, to compete in the Nevada Classic. SUUTBirds.com will feature all streaming and live stat options

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