The Southern Utah volleyball team fell against the Vikings of Portland State tonight in three sets. MaCail Evans was a leading force for the Thunderbirds in this match hitting nine kills and recording a .421 hitting percentage.
To begin the match, Portland State came out strong jumping ahead to a 5-0 lead. Macky Fifita, Mckenzie Van Uitert, and Evans each hit a couple kills in the set trying to keep the Thunderbirds within striking distance.
However, another 5-0 run from the Vikings put them up 19-11. Portland State won the first set 25-16.
Going into the second set, Southern Utah started to pick up their game. As a result, the set was tight all the way to the end. Katy Wilson played a huge role in this set for the Vikings as she hit 13 kills and had a .526 hitting percentage for the match. On the other hand, Elisa Lago dominated the first part of the set for Southern Utah having already hit three kills just a few points in.
With the Thunderbirds facing set point, Evans rose up for a clutch kill to tie things up at 24-24. Two straight kills from Portland State, however, made the difference in the set.
The Vikings won the second set 26-24.
Despite facing a 2-0 set deficit, Southern Utah did not back down in the third set. The Thunderbirds jumped ahead to an early 6-2 run thanks to three early kills from Lago again.
Portland State battled back though to retake the lead at 10-9. From that point, the Vikings never lost the lead again and went on to win the set 25-23 and win the match.
Miranda Canez and Fifita were important defensive contributors for the Thunderbirds tonight as Canez had five blocks for the match along with 11 digs for Fifita.
The Southern Utah Volleyball team will be traveling to Montana next week for their matches. They will face off against the University of Montana Thursday at 7 p.m. MT. Their second match of the week will come against the Bobcats of Montana State University on Saturday. That match will also begin at 7 p.m. MT.
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Story By
SUU Athletic Strategic Communications
