PREVIEW | Thunderbird Volleyball Heads to Nevada for Final Non-Conference Tournament

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah volleyball team will compete in the Nevada Invitational this weekend, Sept. 20-21, 2019, where they will meet the University of Nevada, California Baptist University and Gonzaga University. This will be the final outing before Big Sky Conference play commences. 

"We are excited with the way the season has begun," said head coach Pete Hoyer. "We are also very much aware that the path to all of our goals begins with Big Sky play next week. This weekend at Nevada is another opportunity to refine our game and further develop the depth, resilience, and grit we will need for a successful conference campaign.  We have three legitimate opponents that will challenge us and give us an idea of where we stand, and what needs more work."

Last Time Out 

The Thunderbirds visited Boca Raton, Florida last weekend, Sept. 13-14, 2019, 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. 

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. 

Opponent Preview: University of Nevada Wolf Pack (7-2 overall) (0-0 Mountain West Conference) 

The Wolf Pack are coming off a 3-0 Portland State Tournament sweep where they downed Cal State Northridge, Big Sky opponent Portland State and Morgan State University. Their only losses this season are to University of California Riverside and Canisius College. 

Nevada's offense is led by junior Kayla Afoa who tallies 120 kills on the season, averaging 3.64 per set. Afoa is followed by Brianna Souza who has 77 kills of her own, averaging 2.41 per set. Dalyn Burns, the Wolf Pack's setter, leads in assists with 353. Burns averages 10.70 assists per set and 2.45 digs per set. Leading Nevada in digs is Ryan Blackwood who has 141 total. Middle blocker Sydney Petersen has the most blocks for the Wolf Pack with 45 on the season. 

Head coach Lee Nelson has been with the Wolf Pack for going on five years. 

SUU will face Nevada on Friday, Sept. 20, at 1:00 p.m. MT. 

Opponent Preview: California Baptist University Lancers (3-6 overall) (0-0 Western Athletic Conference) 

The Lancers will head to Nevada off of a 2-1 run in the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions Up Classic. CBU won the first two matches of the tournament, defeating Jackson State 3-0 and SLU 3-1. The last match of the tournament went to Texas A&M - Corpus Christi as the Lancers fell 3-0. 

CBU has played two Big Sky opponents this year, falling to both Idaho 3-1 and Eastern Washington 3-2. 

Junior middle blocker Sydney Marks tops the kill leaderboard for the Lancers with 92 on the season, averaging 2.79 per set. Natalie Zimmerer leads in assists with 221, averaging 6.70 per set. Defensively, Nicole Aberu tallies the most digs with 134 followed by Paige Johnstone who has 43. Yagoda Jedrzejczak has 18 blocks for the Lancers putting her atop the block column. 

Branden Higa enters his seventh year as head coach.

The Thunderbirds will face the Lancers on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6:00 p.m. MT. 

Opponent Preview: Gonzaga University Bulldogs (6-3 overall) (0-0 West Coast Conference) 

The Bulldogs visited Oregon last weekend as they competed in the Seattle University Redhawk Invitational. Over the course of play Gonzaga went 1-2, defeating the University of New Mexico 3-0, and falling to Seattle University 3-2 and Oregon State University 3-1. 

Gonzaga has faced one Big Sky opponent this year, University of Montana, where defeated the Grizzlies 3-0. 

Outside hitter Sarah Penner leads the Bulldogs in kills with 104 on the season, followed by Chapin Gray who totals 88. Jenna Kuehn has the most assists for Gonzaga with 278, averaging 8.69 per set. Kuehn also has the third most digs on the team with 65. Alisa Kim leads the Bulldogs in digs with 104. Penner also tops the block column with 14. 

Head coach Diane Nelson is amidst her fourth year at the helm of the Gonzaga Volleyball program.

The Thunderbirds will compete against the Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 at noon. 

Live Stats/Live Stream 

Live streams and live stats for all Southern Utah's matches in Nevada will be accessible from SUUTBirds.com.

Follow Us

Stay updated on the Thunderbirds 24/7 by following @SUUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram along with liking the Southern Utah Volleyball page on Facebook. 

Fans can visit www.tbirdtickets.com to purchase tickets for the 2019 Thunderbird volleyball season.