IRVINE, Calif. - The Southern Utah volleyball team opened play at the UCI/adidas Invitational Friday afternoon, playing a four-set match against Mountain West opponent Boise State. The T-Birds won the first set of the match, but would ultimately lose 1-3 (25-21, 9-25, 23-25, 11-25).

Stacey Hone led the Thunderbirds offensively with nine kills. She also had two block assists, giving her 10 points in the match. Isabella Saucedo had seven kills and Rylee Achtzehn had six. Calli Johnson put up a career-high 26 digs while Molly McDermott had 13 assists.

The Thunderbirds came out strong in the first set, out-hitting the Broncos .244-.146 and winning the set 25-21. Down 3-2 early, Southern Utah went on a 5-0 scoring run to make it 7-3 and put some distance between themselves and Boise State. The Broncos would tie the set at 11-11, but they were never able to take the lead back. A kill from Achtzehn finished the set and gave the T-Birds a 1-0 lead.

The next set was all Broncos however, as they strung together a 6-0 and a 7-0 scoring run and dominated the T-Birds, winning the set 25-9.

The Thunderbirds put up a good fight in set three, winning the first four points and holding the lead until the Broncos tied things up at 17-17. A 6-0 scoring run from BSU would be too much for the T-Birds to overcome however, as the Broncos would go on to take the set 25-23 and go up 2-1 in the match.

Boise State didn't let up in the fourth set, scoring 14 of the final 18 points on their way to a 25-11 set win and a 3-1 match victory.

The Thunderbirds will be back on the court tomorrow to take on George Mason University at 4:00 p.m. Mountain time (3:00 p.m. Pacific time) and the host Anteaters at 8:00 p.m. Mountain time (7:00 p.m. Pacific time).

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