STEPHENVILLE, Texas - The Southern Utah University women's volleyball team picked up a big road result on Thursday, Nov. 7, winning in five over the Tarleton State Texans. The Thunderbirds improve to 6-7 in Western Athletic Conference play while the Texans fall to 2-11 in the WAC. With this win, SUU has also secured a spot in the WAC Volleyball Tournament.

Head Coach Kacey Nady Said:

"We are proud of how we finished and fought until the end. We are starting to serve more aggressively and find consistency. With three more to go, we are looking to get even better in all facets of the game."

Top T-Birds

• Victoria Zibecchi led the offense with a season-high 16 kills.
• Teniyah Leuluai continued her historic season, posting 47 assists for her fourth 40+ assist match of the season.
• Arianna Rossi protected the backcourt with a career-high 24 digs.

Match Recap

Set number one was tight all throughout, with a 5-0 scoring run from the Texans opening up an early lead for the home team 9-6, but the response from the Thunderbirds was swift, scoring four of the next five to knot it up at ten. With their opponent picking up momentum, Tarleton went on the attack once again, collecting five points to head to the media break up 15-11. On the other side of the timeout, Southern Utah gained momentum, pulling within one on a 4-1 run and taking the lead, 21-18, on a 6-1 run. Three straight kills from TSU tied it up once again, but SUU regained the edge with three kills of their own. The home team looked to pull ahead with two quick points, but a kill from Finley Charapata ended things with a 25-23 Thunderbird win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second frame saw much of the same, with both teams exchanging runs to see Southern Utah up 15-11 at the media timeout. Coming out of the break, Tarleton began to gain momentum, scoring five of six on their way to tying the game at 17. Down the stretch, both teams remained deadlocked, going blow-for-blow to see the set still tied 22-22 before a couple of errors from their opponent allowed the Thunderbirds to jump ahead and take the set 25-23 once again and claim a 2-0 lead.

With SUU up 14-11 in the third, TSU responded with a 4-0 run, fighting to prevent the sweep. Down the stretch, with both teams matched at 18, Tarleton began to make their run, jumping on errors from the Thunderbirds and claiming seven of the last eight points to ice set three 25-19 and extending the match to a fourth.

After both squads exchanged 4-0 runs to open the frame four, the Texans began to pull ahead, balancing two different 5-1 scoring runs on their way to an 18-11 lead. The Thunderbirds looked to gain momentum with three kills from Victoria Zibecchi, but the deficit proved too great as the home team would clinch the fourth 25-18 and push the match to a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth, the Thunderbirds pounced early, scoring seven of the first nine points on their way to an 8-5 lead as the team switched sides. Now on the other side of the court, Southern Utah refused to relent, capitalizing on a balanced attack from Zibecchi, Carissa Richie, and Marlee Ervin to hold a 12-7 lead. Tarleton responded with a 3-0 run, but an error and kills from Ervin and Molly McDermott shut the door on the comeback and gave SUU the 15-11 win and a five-set victory.

Up Next

The Thunderbirds will hop on I-20 and wrap up their road trip with a match against the Abilene Christian Wildcats. The match is set to go at 10:00 a.m. MT and you can watch it live on ESPN+ or follow along with live stats here.

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