SEATTLE -- Southern Utah finished its season-opening West Coast road trip on Saturday, losing to the Washington State Cougars in straight sets. Even though the Thunderbirds were unable to steal a set against their Pac-12 foe, tenacious defense and hustle kept this match much closer than the final score would indicate, with massive momentum swings and several long rallies that kept the crowd in suspense.
The Thunderbirds started the first set on fire, with a vicious attack headlined by Maya Banks and Audrey Atwood building a five-point lead early. Even as Washington State was able to slow the bleeding a bit, Kaitlyn Hoelker kept the pressure up, scoring on three kills in four Thunderbird points, leading to a 14-9 advantage. Then, with Southern Utah leading at 19-14, the Cougars finally found their offensive rhythm, going on a 9-1 run which they used to close out the first set 25-22.
The second set was a reversal of the first, with Washington State coming out strong and establishing a 5-1 lead before the Thunderbirds came clawing their way back, tying the score at eight apiece and matching the Cougars point for point as they battled to 19-19. Ultimately, Washington State would close out the second frame with the same 25-22 score that they won the first frame as Naomi White made just a few too many plays for the Thunderbirds to overcome.
As Southern Utah entered the third set trying to extend the match, their play was promising in the early stages as four different Thunderbirds recorded kills, keeping the deficit small at only 10-8. At that point, the Cougars finally managed to get separation from the Thunderbirds, rattling off a 5-1 scoring run heading into the media timeout up 15-9. After the timeout, Washington State kept scoring, taking the final set by a score of 25-11.
Defense played the biggest role in keeping the Thunderbirds in the mix throughout the match as they tallied seven total blocks. Ten different players recorded digs on the afternoon as well, with nine making multiple point-saving plays. Offensively, Southern Utah scratched out 28 total kills against a very tough Cougar defense that came into the match averaging over three blocks and nearly 15 digs per set. That ability to find difficult points against strong defenses is quickly becoming a hallmark for the Thunderbirds on the young season.
Kaitlyn Hoelker led Southern Utah offensively with 10 kills for the match while hitting .280 in what may have been her best outing of the season. Audrey Atwood and Maya Banks each added five blocks, and Banks assisted on four blocks to bring her scoring total to seven for the match. Talea Berry led the team with five digs, and had her third straight match with double-digit assists as she totalled 15 on the day. Emilia Linden performed well on both offense and defense as the Junior scored two kills on four attempts while also helping on three blocks.
After eight straight matches on the road to start the season, the Thunderbirds will finally play their first match in front of their home fans when they take on the Chicago State Cougars on September 18 at 6 pm MT.
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