CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah volleyball team hosted Dixie State Friday night for a knock-down, drag-out fight from which the Thunderbirds emerged victorious 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 19-25, 21-19).
Stacey Hone led the Thunderbird attack with a season-high 17 kills and 18 points. The redshirt senior hit .310 on the night, with just four attack errors in 42 attempts. Ronnie Robinson also had double-digit kills on the night with 13. Raegen Ashby had four solo blocks and three block assists for a total of seven blocks on the night. Molly McDermott had 39 assists and Calli Johnson had 23 digs.
After winning the first set 25-19, the T-Birds found themselves in a 7-12 hole in the second set. A kill from Stacey Hone on the next play launched a 12-3 scoring run for Southern Utah that gave them a four-point lead to work with. Dixie State cut that lead down to just one, but the Thunderbirds ended set two on a 4-0 run to win the set and go up 2-0.
The script from the first two sets flipped almost exactly for the next two as the Trailblazers won set three 25-19 and set four 25-20. The Thunderbirds held a five-point lead in set three before falling and got within one point in set four before DSU finished it off.
The two teams would head to an intense fifth and final set to determine a winner.
After the T-Birds built a three-point lead and looked like they might cruise to another five-set win, the Trailblazers came back to tie it late at 13-13. From there it was back-and-forth for the two teams. Every time the Thunderbirds would score, Dixie State would answer and tie the set again. The Trailblazers finally took a lead at 17-16, but Southern Utah answered right back with two points of their own to go up 18-17.
Two more points from DSU made it 19-18Â and match point for the visitors, but the T-Birds scored the next three points to finally take the set and the match.
The Thunderbirds and the Trailblazers will face-off again tomorrow night in St. George at 6:00 p.m.
Follow Us
Stay up to date during the 2021 Thunderbird Volleyball season by following @SUUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Volleyball page on Facebook.
