ARLINGTON, Texas - The Southern Utah University women's volleyball team battled hard but fell in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday morning. The T-Birds dropped a tight 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 17-25) battle to Utah Valley. The loss ends the 2024 Campaign for the T-Birds with a final record of 10-18.

Head Coach Kacey Nady Said:

"We played well today against a consistent team. We served great, defended, and passed better, too. We are proud of the team's fight on the big stage, and we were ready. The beauty and challenge of this sport is what transpired today: it only takes a couple points to change the outcome of a match."

Top T-Birds

• Finley Charapata and Andrea Spasojevic led the team with an impressive 18 and  11 kills, respectively. 
• Teniyah Leuluai was great in the receiving game, with 13 digs. Spasojevic and Charapata each finished just behind her with 12 digs. 
• Leuluai also led the team in assists with 43.

Match Recap

The first set between Southern Utah and Utah Valley was a back-and-forth affair. The Thunderbirds started fast, taking an early lead before trading points while in single digits. Utah Valley took the lead, jumping out by three points on a small run. A couple of big plays by Victoria Zibecchi brought the score back to a tie at 19-19. The Thunderbirds won the following two points, including a successful challenge to take a two-point lead but three straight points put the Wolverines on top 22-21. They would hold the lead despite some back-and-forth serving, taking the first set 25-23. 

Set two continued to be a tight battle, but consecutive points off the services of Zibecchi gave the Thunderbirds a quick 7-4 lead. Southern Utah stretched the lead to five points before a timeout by UVU changed the momentum and led to the Wolverines scoring five straight points. The Thunderbirds got back on track, rebuilding a three-point lead to 19-16. Southern Utah continued to get outstanding play at the net by Finley Charapata, and the T-Birds closed it out 25-21. 

The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early lead, but Utah Valley would continue to battle, tying the set and eventually breaking into a three-point lead at 9-6. SUU would continue to battle, but the Wolverines were able to stretch the lead to five, taking a 15-10 lead. The Thunderbirds fought hard to bring the score to within two points at 20-18. SUU tied the match up at 23-23, but back-to-back points for Utah Valley, giving them the third set at 25-23. 

The match continued to be tight as both teams played well to a 5-5 tie. The Wolverines capitalized on a few hitting errors by the T-Birds to garner a 9-5 lead. Carissa Richie then made her presence felt with back-to-back blocks as part of a four-point run to bring the score to 9-8. Utah Valley went on a run to take a significant lead at 15-9. The T-Birds battled back to within a few points at 20-17, but the Wolverines rattled off five straight points to take the match 25-17. 

Up Next

The Thunderbirds finish the season 10-18 and head into the offseason. Southern Utah achieved its first double-digit win total since 2019. Coach Nady and her staff will turn their attention to recruiting and improving the team for next year. 

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