CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah volleyball team picked up their first Big Sky win of the season Saturday afternoon, beating Idaho 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-17, 25-23) inside the America First Event Center.

Raegen Ashby led the Thunderbirds on both sides of the ball, finishing with a season-high 11 kills and four blocks, while hitting .389 on 18 attempts. Rylee Achtzehn had a career-high 10 kills and Stacey Hone and Carissa Richie had nine apiece. Calli Johnson and Corrin Peterson both had 11 digs.

As a team, the Thunderbirds out hit Idaho .216-.203 and compiled 53 kills. Their .216 hitting percentage is their third-highest of the season.

The T-Birds trailed in every set in the match, mounting comebacks in sets one, three, and four. They found themselves trailing 14-16 in set one before winning 11 of the final 13 points to walk away with the 25-18 win.

The Vandals took set two behind a 6-0 scoring run that gave them a lead that Southern Utah could not overcome.

The T-Birds were down early in set three, but never let Idaho string more than three points together in the set. With the score at 20-17 in favor of the Thunderbirds, SUU went on a 5-0 scoring run to close out the set and go up 2-1 in the match.

The Vandals once again held an early lead in the fourth set, finding themselves up 10-7 after a 5-1 scoring run. The Thunderbirds would chip away at the lead until they were able to tie things up at 11-11. The set would be tied four more times after that until a kill and a block from Ronnie Robinson would give the Thunderbirds a 16-15 lead.

The teams would find themselves tied up once again at 23-23, but a service error from Idaho and a kill from Richie would put the Vandals away and give Southern Utah the 3-1 victory.

The Thunderbirds will have two days before their next game as they host Northern Arizona on Tuesday September 28 at 6:00 p.m. inside the AFEC.

Homecoming Week

Southern Utah University's annual Homecoming Week celebrates the past, present and future of the University with a multitude of events and traditions. SUU invites alumni, current students and families, faculty and staff, founders, friends, and community members to join the Thunderbird family for Homecoming Week, September 20-25, 2021. 

Tickets

Tickets for the Thunderbirds' next home match against Weber State on October 14 are available at tbirdtickets.com or the America First Event Center Ticket Office. Fans can also purchase Volleyball Season Tickets for access to every home match of the 2021 season.

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.