FRESNO, Calif. -- The Southern Utah Thunderbirds lost to the UC Irvine Anteaters on Friday as the defense struggled to contain an explosive Anteater attack.
UC Irvine started the match quickly, with offensive trio Abby Pekrul, Jessica Bates and Madison Triplett pushing the Anteaters out to an 18-5 lead. The Thunderbirds fought back, scoring four of the next six points, but ultimately dropped the first set by a score of 25-12.
The second set started with a 9-2 Anteater lead before the Thunderbirds clawed their way back to a 14-9 score. Kills by Pekrul, Bates and Triplett sparked a 6-1 UC Irvine run, pushing the lead to 20-10. Maya Banks and Kaitlyn Hoelker then led an 8-2 scoring run for the Thunderbirds, bringing the score to 22-18 before the Anteaters closed the set out at 25-18.
Southern Utah's offense quickly found a groove in the third set, with Natalie Moore sending home 3 kills as the Thunderbirds trailed by only 10-8. Unfortunately, a crucial service error gave the Anteaters the ball back, and they went on a 15-4 scoring run to close out the match with a 25-12 win in the final frame.
Despite not keeping pace with a torrid Anteater attack that found success on over 40% of its attempts, the Thunderbirds offense continues to improve. With 26 kills and a season-low 14 errors, Southern Utah had its best hitting percentage as a team for this campaign, continuing the trend of improvement shown through the last three matches.
Kaitlyn Hoelker led the Thunderbirds in scoring for the first time this season with seven kills and three aces for 10 points. Maya Banks added another seven kills to her team-leading season total, now sitting at 39 for the year, while also recording two blocks. Freshman setter Talea Berry had the best game of her young career, leading the team with eight digs and tallying team-second-best nine assists.
The Thunderbirds will close out the Bulldog Invitational on Saturday when they play the New Mexico State Aggies at noon MT.
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