CEDAR CITY, Utah - Coming off of their first two conference wins last weekend, the Southern Utah University women's volleyball team will hit the road to play the University of Texas Arlington Mavericks on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 5:00 p.m. MT before heading home to take on rival Utah Tech on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1:00 p.m. MT.

Head Coach Kacey Nady Said:

"UTA is a talented team with a lot of weapons and seasoned vets. We are looking forward to playing them early in the conference season because discipline and execution will be key."

T-Bird Tidbits

• Teniyah Leuluai leads the club with 8.20 assists per set, good for third in the WAC.
• Andrea Spasojevic controls the offense to the tune of just under three kills per set.
• Carissa Richie protects the net with 53 total blocks, sixth-best in the conference.

Last Time Out

Last Saturday, the Thunderbirds secured their second conference sweep in as many games in a home matchup against the Abilene Christian Wildcats.

The Wildcats started the first strong, scoring four of the first five points and riding that momentum into the media timeout up 15-12. Coming out of the break, the Thunderbirds used a balanced attack from Carissa Richie, Andrea Spasojevic, and Victoria Zibbechi to see the frame tied at 21. After two quick points from ACU, Southern Utah responded with two points of their own to notch the set once again. Another kill from the Wildcats put them on the brink, 24-23, but SUU went on the attack once again, scoring the game's final three points capped off by a kill from Finley Charapata that gave them the win 26-24.

Set number two started similarly to the first, with Abilene Christian holding a 15-11 lead at the halfway mark. As the Thunderbirds capitalized on a 3-0 run to put them within a point, the team flipped the script, cashing in on a 4-0 run led by the service of Molly McDermott and another 4-0 run with Teniyah Leuluai's serve leading the charge to put Southern Utah up 24-21. After a Wildcat point put them within two, another kill from Charapata iced the set 25-22 and put her team up 2-0.

In the third, the 'Birds came out firing, capitalizing on six straight points to go up 8-2 early. As the storm weathered, ACU began to crawl back into the game to end up down only one with the score reading 17-16 for SUU. A 3-0 scoring run from the Thunderbirds put them up four, but the Wildcats refused to go away, taking advantage of errors from their opponent to be down only two, 23-21, late. After a Carissa Richie kill and two more points from ACU, Charapata secured the set once again 25-23 to give Southern Utah their second consecutive sweep. 

Scouting Report

UT Arlington

• The Mavericks are 12-2 on the year, winning their first two conference matches on the road against GCU and CBU.
• Offensively, Brianna Ford leads the attack with 220 total kills, 4.58 per set.
• Mollie Blank sets up her teammates with a conference high 10.41 assists per set.
• In the defensive back court, Samantha Glenn hustles for 3.66 digs per set.

Utah Tech

• The Trailblazers are 8-4 on the season, going 2-0 at home last weekend against ACU and TSU.
• Kennedi Knudsen leads the attack with 172 total kills.
• Marley Roe spreads the wealth for 5.51 assists per set.
• Taylor Snow (56) and Casidy Fried (54) top the team in total blocks.

History

• The Mavericks lead the all-time series against the Thunderbirds 2-0, with UTA emerging victorious in last years matchup in the AFEC 3-2.
• Saturday will mark the eighth all-time meeting between Southern Utah and Utah Tech, with the Thunderbirds leading 4-3 all-time coming off of last year's 3-2 victory on Senior Night.

Tickets

For single-game tickets, be sure to visit tbirdtickets.com.

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