CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Southern Utah fell to Northern Colorado in 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-21) on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the America First Event Center, after building a five-point third-set lead behind back-to-back aces from Emilia Linden. The loss moves the Thunderbirds to 1-13 overall and 0-4 in Big Sky play.
Thunderbird Leaders
Ryen Smith led all Thunderbirds with nine kills to extend her streak of five-plus kill matches to six while adding a service ace to bring her scoring total to 10 points. Audrey Atwood and Natalie Moore each added four kills, finishing tied for second on the team with Julia Roncero-Ribas, who made her first start with the Thunderbirds. Emilia Linden matched Atwood with two aces and led the team with two total blocks, including a solo stop. Celeste Uruena Jensen dished out nine assists, and Talea Berry added eight, while Berry and Kaitlyn Barnes shared the team lead with six digs apiece.
Fast Start Fuels Third-Set Push
Southern Utah started the third set strong as kills by Audrey Atwood and Julia Roncero-Ribas sparked a 6-1 run to open the frame, capped off by back-to-back aces by Emilia Linden. After a brief push from the Bears, a Ryen Smith kill and an ace by Audrey Atwood pushed the margin back to five at 9-4. Northern Colorado chipped away and tied the set at 12-12, but the Thunderbirds regained the lead and held it through 19-17 as Ryen Smith put down kills on back-to-back SUU points at 18-16 and 19-17. The Bears then scored five straight, with Alayna Tessena serving the last four, to go up 22-19. Linden saved a match point with a kill at 24-21 before UNC closed it out on the next rally.
Bears Pull Away Early
Northern Colorado took control of the opening set with an 8-0 run that turned a 3-2 edge into an 11-2 lead, and the Bears hit .824 in the set without an attack error. In the second, SUU trailed 10-4 before Ryen Smith came up big, with a kill to start a four-point run and an ace from the service line, while Emilia Linden added a solo block to cut it to 10-8. UNC answered with three straight points and pulled away from there.
Northern Colorado hit .363 to SUU's -.010 and outblocked the Thunderbirds 8-2, though Southern Utah held a 5-3 edge in aces. Tessena led the Bears with 12 kills on .611 hitting, Kylie Cackovic added eight kills and three solo blocks, and Bella LePore recorded 17 digs.
Up Next
Southern Utah stays home to host Idaho State on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6:30 p.m. MT before welcoming Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 1 p.m. MT.
Follow Us
Stay up to date on the Thunderbirds Volleyball program by following @SUUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Volleyball page on Facebook.
Donate
To help support Thunderbirds athletics, consider donating today! To learn more about how you can support, click here.Â
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.
