CEDAR CITY, Utah -- For the first time in just under five years, the America First Event Center will see Southern Utah Women's Volleyball host in-state rival Weber State when the Wildcats come to Cedar City for a match on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1:00 pm MT. Rivalries tend to bring out the best in teams, and Southern Utah will look to use that extra edge to claim their first conference win of the 2026 season.

The Thunderbirds

The Southern Utah defense is coming off a strong performance against Idaho State on Thursday, recording six blocks for an eighth five-plus block performance in the last ten matches, and tallying 42 total digs to make it three of the last four outings with 40+ digs. Strong defensive play will be a requirement for the Thunderbirds to pull off the upset as they face an efficient Wildcats offense that averages over 12 kills while hitting into fewer than two blocks per set.

Natalie Moore leads all Thunderbirds with 41 total blocks this season and turned in a stellar defensive performance in her last outing, with two solo and one assisted block against the Bengals on Thursday to lead the Southern Utah defense at the net. Emilia Linden also recorded two solo blocks on Thursday to extend her streak of matches with a block to 10, including six straight outings with multiple rejections. Amanda Mendoza will be looking to continue her recent run of strong back-line play as the sophomore recorded 13 total digs against Idaho State for her second 10+ dig performance in three matches.

Southern Utah's offense comes into Saturday's match having scored at least 30 kills in four of its last six matches, marking the second time this season the Thunderbirds achieved such a feat. After seven different players recorded kills against Idaho State, including three hitters with at least five, the Thunderbirds will need to keep diversifying their attack as they face a stout net-front combo that averages over 2.6 blocks per set.

Audrey Atwood scored nine total kills against Idaho State on Thursday to lead all Thunderbirds, marking the third time in four matches that the USU-Eastern transfer has led Southern Utah in kills. That run of play has catapulted Atwood up to second on the team in total kills with 74, right behind Maya Banks' 81. Ryen Smith also continues to be a consistent scoring force for the Thunderbirds, now sitting at seven consecutive outings with at least five total kills.

Looking at the Visitors

Weber State enters Saturday's match at 9-6, with a 2-3 record in conference play after dropping their last two matches to Northern Arizona and Utah Tech. Offensively, the Wildcats have yet to record fewer than 40 kills in a Big Sky match this season, but showed vulnerability by failing to reach a .200 hitting percentage in both of their most recent outings. On defense, Weber State has at least five blocks in every conference match it has played, including three performances with at least 10 total rejections.

Series History

Saturday will mark the 27th time the Thunderbirds and Wildcats have met on the court since 2009, and the first meeting in Cedar City since Oct. 14, 2021. Weber State leads the series 16-10 and has won the last eight meetings between the teams, including last year's match in Ogden, which the Wildcats won 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-14). The last time Southern Utah defeated Weber State was in Sept. 2019 when the Thunderbirds won a five-set thriller (25-17, 17-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-11) in Cedar City.

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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.