CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah Thunderbirds won their first match of 2026 on Friday, sweeping Chicago State 25-11, 25-22, 25-22. It was a banner night for the Thunderbirds as they put the pieces together to close out tough sets after falling just short in similar situations recently.
When asked about her team's ability to close out sets on top, Danielle Jensen said:
"We've been working on that for a while now, and it felt good to see the progress, and to have the confidence that we can finish the set."
Southern Utah started the match on fire, building a 17-5 lead, seemingly before everyone in the crowd made it to their seats. The Thunderbirds' offensive explosion was fueled by a stellar team performance, with six different players recording kills. Even after the Cougars managed to catch their breath and slow the Thunderbirds' scoring run, Southern Utah kept pulling away, ultimately taking the first set 25-11.
The second set started much closer, with the Cougars and Thunderbirds trading points back-and-forth through the early stages. Then, with the score tied at 11-11, a service ace, followed by back-to-back Ryen Smith kills, helped kickstart an 11-3 run that saw Southern Utah on the brink of going up two sets to none. Chicago State fought back with an 8-2 run of their own, but Audrey Atwood sent home the deciding kill to win the set 25-22 and push the Thunderbirds to within 25 points of victory.
The Thunderbirds stumbled slightly at the beginning of set three, dropping four of the first five points. Unfazed, they scored four straight points and never trailed in the set again. Middle Blocker Natalie Moore played hero in the third frame, sending home five kills and scoring two of Southern Utah's last three points as the Thunderbirds closed out the match with a 25-22 win in set three.
Offensively, Southern Utah posted a new season-best performance, finishing with an offensive hitting percentage above .250 for the first time. The Thunderbirds also recorded over 40 kills for the third time over their last four matches. Southern Utah's defense also enjoyed a season-best performance, holding Chicago State to a hitting percentage of only .101 and surrendering fewer than 30 kills for the first time this season. Perhaps most impressively, Southern Utah finished with an incredible 11 service aces, led by Talea Berry's six.
Southern Utah benefited from a balanced attack, with seven different players recording at least five points each. Natalie Moore led the team with 11 kills on an otherworldly hitting percentage of .600 while Kaitlyn Hoelker and Emilia Linden contributed six kills each and hit over .400. Ryen Smith and Audrey Atwood finished second and third in points for the team with 8.5 and eight, respectively, while Maya Banks found a way to make an impact on both offense and defense with five kills and two solo blocks. Defensively, Zorana Stankovska was the difference maker for the Thunderbirds as she tied her season-high with 13 digs.
After the elation of winning their first match for the season, the Thunderbirds will hunt more success on Saturday as they take on UC Riverside at 2:00 pm MT in the America First Event Center.
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