PROVO, Utah - The Southern Utah volleyball team picked up their first win of the season Saturday evening, downing Long Island University 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-25, 15-11) in Provo at the dōTerra Classic.
This is the first win for head coach Kacey Nady in both her career and as the head coach of the Thunderbirds.
Freshman Isabella Saucedo led all attackers in the match with 15 kills. She also hit .394, had nine digs, and contributed on two blocks. Fellow freshman Carissa Richie had 11 kills with five blocks and a .400 hitting percentage. Corrin Peterson had 40 assists and 10 digs while Raegen Ashby put up seven blocks.
As a team, the Thunderbirds out-served and out-blocked the Sharks, racking up 13 service aces and 12 blocks compared to LIU's five aces and three blocks.
Southern Utah dropped the first set of the match, finding themselves down 11-6 early. They were able to fight back to get within two at 17-19, but the Sharks ultimately kept them at a distance and took set one 25-20.
The T-Birds dug deep and won the next two sets, both by a score of 25-18. In set two they used a 10-3 scoring run to put distance between themselves and the Sharks. They closed the set with a 5-1 advantage and rode that momentum into set three.
With LIU up 10-9 in the third set, the Thunderbirds put together a 5-0 scoring run to take the lead and eventually put the Sharks to bed. They would work up to a 25-18 final score and go up two sets to one in the match.
The Sharks really found their groove in set four. They were up 16-15 and put together a 9-0 scoring run to tie the match up and send it to a fifth and final set.
However, the Thunderbirds did what they have done best over the last two seasons and picked up their sixth consecutive five-set win, downing the Sharks 15-11 in the tiebreaker. The last time they lost a fifth set came on October 17, 2019 against Eastern Washington.
The T-Birds also played reigning Mountain West champions UNLV Saturday morning, losing that match 0-3. Ronnie Robinson led all attackers with 15 kills in the match.
Southern Utah finishes their first weekend of competition with a 1-2 record and will now return home to prepare for the UC Irvine/adidas Invitational next weekend in California.
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