GREELEY, Colo. -- Southern Utah lost to the Northern Colorado Bears 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16) as the Thunderbirds played their final match on the road for the 2026 season. The Thunderbirds will now return to Cedar City to close out their campaign with two matches next week.
Thunderbirds Leaders
- Audrey Atwood led the team with 17 total points on 13 kills, three solo blocks, and a service ace.
- Kaitlyn Barnes scored a new season-best 10 kills while recording two total blocks and eight digs.
- Amanda Mendoza tied for the team lead with 10 digs and collected nine assists and an ace.
- Celeste Uruena Jensen also had 10 digs and finished with a team-leading 16 assists.
Group Defensive Effort
The Thunderbirds seemed to get their hands to nearly every attack the Bears sent their way, with five different players recording five-plus digs and five players recording blocks. As a team, Southern Utah had its most total blocks since Sep. 29 and had its fourth 40+ dig performance in five matches.
Thunderbirds Come Back Twice to Win Set Three
Southern Utah found its back to the wall in set three, down 12-8 after an 8-2 Bears run swung momentum to the home team. In the face of adversity, the Thunderbirds refused to flinch, rattling off a 7-3 run of their own to tie the set, highlighted by two kills and a solo block by Atwood.
Even after falling behind again at 20-17, the Thunderbirds kept their cool as Kaitlyn Barnes and Audrey Atwood fueled another scoring run to tie the set at 23 points. With the pressure on and her team facing a sweep, Atwood came up clutch with a solo rejection of Northern Colorado's Maddie Rink and the Thunderbirds scored the next point to take the set 25-23. In total, Atwood had seven of her 13 kills and two of her three blocks in the third frame.
Up Next
Southern Utah returns to the America First Event Center to take on the Portland State Vikings on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 pm.
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.
