CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Southern Utah lost its rematch with Montana State 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-22) on Thursday, Oct. 29 despite a late 5-2 scoring run in the third set that brought the score to 23-22.
Thunderbirds Leaders
Audrey Atwood finished the night as Southern Utah's lead scorer with five kills, two solo blocks and two service aces for nine total points, and continued to make her presence known on defense by tying for the team lead with five digs.Â
Emilia Zug led all Thunderbirds with seven kills for the evening while recording five digs of her own. Talea Berry was the third and final Southern Utah player to finish with five digs while also leading the team in assists for the seventh straight match with 10 helpers.
Natalie Moore became the third player to reach triple-digit kills for the Thunderbirds on the season by sending home five on just 11 attempts, bringing her season total to 103. Ryen Smith was just as consistent as ever, sending home five kills to make it 13 of her last 15 matches with at least five successful attacks.
United Defensive Front
Defense has been the calling card for Southern Utah for quite some time now, and tonight was no different with the Thunderbirds recording seven total blocks to make it 10 out of their last 12 matches with at least five total blocks. The defensive effort was also quite evenly balanced for Southern Utah, with six different players recording blocks and 11 players recording at least one dig.
Late Push Nearly Extends Match
With the score favoring Montana State 18-11 in the third set Southern Utah began a run that would nearly see the Thunderbirds push the match to a fourth frame, scoring six of the next seven points, capped off by two Natalie Moore kills in three plays. Then, after Montana State pushed its lead back to four at 21-17, the Thunderbirds rattled off five of the next seven points, with a kill and a block by Audrey Atwood helping bring the score back to 23-22 before the Bobcats would close out the set with the next two points.
Up Next
Southern Utah will remain in Cedar City as it prepares to host the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 6:30 pm MT in a Halloween showdown. Prior to the match is the annual Trunk-or-Treat in the America First Event Center concourse from 5:15-6:15 pm. All standard arena policies will be enforced, including the clear bag policy and no outside food. The only exception to the clear bag policy will be for children's trick-or-treat bags. Tables will be set up and labeled for each Southern Utah team.
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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.
