CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Southern Utah will take on the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:00 pm MT as the Thunderbirds kick off a brief, two-game road trip in the Treasure State. Southern Utah will look to build momentum after a strong showing against Weber State that saw the team set new season highs in both kills and digs.
When asked about the team's expectations of the road trip, Coach Jensen said:
""We're excited to head to Montana and compete against two great programs this week. Our team continues to grow, and we're seeing positive strides in our preparation and the way we compete. We have a great opportunity ahead of us, and I'm confident in what this group is capable of accomplishing. We're looking forward to bringing energy, playing together, and competing for two wins on the road."
The Thunderbirds
Southern Utah's offense comes into Thursday's match after recording 63 kills against Weber State for its first 60+ kill match of the season, with three players sending home at least 10 kills, and six collecting at least five. Thunderbirds hitters have the opportunity for another big match on Thursday as they face a defense that averages only 1.58 blocks and over 14 kills allowed per set.
Audrey Atwood leads all Thunderbirds in total kills after an 18 kill performance against Weber State brought her to 92 for the season as the junior outside hitter now has at least eight kills in four of her last five matches. Emilia Zug took on an increased role for the Thunderbirds last week, finishing with 18 total kills while hitting .316 across two outings. Emilia Linden will look to continue her run of strong offensive play as she has at least five kills in four of six conference matches played.
Defensively, Southern Utah looks as good as ever, recording six total blocks against Weber State for its sixth match with at least five team blocks in seven outings. SUU also tallied 64 total digs, marking just the second time this season the Thunderbirds had 60+ digs in a single match. The defense will be looking for another big outing against a Montana offense that has hit below .110 in four of its last six matches.
Amanda Mendoza has become a defensive anchor on the back line, averaging over 2.7 digs per set over her last five outings, including 21 total digs across the team's two matches last week. Kaitlyn Barnes has also been making big plays on defense, with 20 total digs last week, including 15 to lead the team against Weber State. At the net, the defense is led by Natalie Moore with 43 total blocks on the season, including five rejections last week, four of which were solo.
Scouting the Grizzlies
Montana sits at 5-12 on the season with a 1-5 record in conference play. The Grizzlies come into Thursday's match having lost six of their last seven, including back-to-back losses after winning their first conference match against Idaho on Oct. 3. Defensively, Montana has at least five total blocks in all six conference matches played, while the offense has only hit above .200 twice in the same time.
Series History
Southern Utah and Montana have played 16 times since 2011, with each squad winning eight matches. Thursday will mark the first meeting between the two schools since Oct. 2021 when the Grizzlies beat the Thunderbirds 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-16) in Cedar City, and the first meeting to take place in Missoula, MT since 2019. The last time Southern Utah beat Montana was Feb. 2021 in a 3-1 win (25-22, 19-25, 25-11, 25-15) to cap off a run of four wins in five matches against the Grizzlies. The Thunderbirds are 3-4 when playing in Missoula.
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Tickets
Single-game and season tickets for the upcoming Southern Utah Volleyball season are now available. For more information and to purchase tickets for SUU Volleyball, visit tbirdtickets.com.
