PROVO, Utah - The Southern Utah volleyball team opened their 2021 season with a 0-3 (11-25, 16-25, 13-25) loss to No. 15 BYU on Friday at the dōTerra Classic.

Stacey Hone led the Thunderbirds in kills with six and had two block assists for seven total points in the match. Freshmen Carissa Richie and Isabella Saucedo both had strong debuts for the T-Birds. Richie had four kills and a hitting percentage of .375 while also helping out on three blocks. Saucedo also had four kills and two block assists.

Corrin Peterson had 16 assists and eight digs while Sarah Gasper had 12 digs.

As a team, the Thunderbirds out-blocked the Cougars 7-3 with Raegen Ashby leading both teams with four blocks.

The Cougars came out strong in the first set taking a quick 12-2 lead. The Thunderbirds were able to pick up the scoring, but then a 5-0 scoring run from BYU made it 23-8. They would end up taking the first set 25-11.

The second set was much closer as the T-Birds were able to find some life. The score was tied five times and the teams traded points to open the set. The Cougars began to pull away, but a couple of kills from Hone and Richie brought Southern Utah within two points at 12-14. However, BYU would use a 7-0 scoring run to really put the second set out of reach and win it 25-16.

The Cougars took set three in similar fashion with their big scoring run coming at the end to close out the set and the match.

The Thunderbirds will be back in action at the dōTerra Classic tomorrow with matches against UNLV at 10:00 a.m. and LIU at 4:00 p.m.

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