RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Southern Utah volleyball team lost their first five-set match since 2019 Saturday afternoon, falling to California Baptist 2-3 (26-28, 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 16-18) on the final day of the UCR/CBU Tournament.

Prior to Saturday, the Thunderbirds had won seven consecutive five-set matches dating back to October 17, 2019.

Stacey Hone and Ronnie Robinson both hit double digits in kills in the loss, with Hone leading the way at 12 and Robinson racking up 10. Robinson also contributed 12 digs while Hone had four blocks. Corrin Peterson had 23 assists and five service aces while Raegen Ashby had nine total blocks.

The match was tight all the way through with neither team scoring less than 19 points in any set. Both the first and the fifth set went long as the teams went back and forth, with CBU finally winning both by going up two points. There were four match points in the final set, with the Thunderbirds having three chances to finish the Lancers off before eventually losing the match.

Having dropped the first set, Southern Utah won sets two and three, both in comeback fashion. In set two, they were down as many as four points, but used an 8-2 scoring run to make it 23-16 and go on to take the set. In set three, they were down 18-20 late, but scoring seven of the final 10 points to win their second consecutive set.

The Lancers took set four and forced the tightly contested fifth-set. Neither team ever led by more than two points and the set was tied 10 times until CBU broke through and took home the victory.

The Thunderbirds will open their home schedule next week as they host Utah State on September 15 and Dixie State on September 17 inside the America First Event Center.

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