Monday, Oct. 2, saw the Southern Utah University volleyball team take on Utah Tech University in a one-sided affair. The UT Trailblazers dominated with a 3-0 victory.
In the first set, it stayed relatively even until the Trailblazers’ 11th point. From the time the scoreboard read 11-8, Utah Tech led by three or more points until the end of their 25-15 set win. The final point came from a Kennedi Knudsen kill, her 10th of the set.
UT started the second set with a 4-1 run and stayed hot until it was 10-4. Southern Utah scored five points straight to narrow their deficit to 10-9, but the streak did not last long — Utah Tech answered back with a 7-0 run. They kept the lead through the rest of the set and earned a 25-21 victory. Twelve of the Trailblazers’ 25 points came off errors from Southern Utah.
SUU scored the first point in the last set but allowed UT to answer with five consecutive points. Despite the Thunderbirds managing to pull ahead to a 14-11 lead, a second UT 5-0 run rapidly put the Trailblazers back on top. After Utah Tech amassed a 20-16 lead, Southern Utah went on their longest run of the set by scoring four points straight. They kept close to Utah Tech until each teams’ 21st point, but UT scored four in a row to secure a 25-21 set win and an overall match victory.
The loss moves SUU to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in Western Athletic Conference play, landing them at No. 11 of 11 in team rankings. UT is now 5-9 overall, and their 1-3 conference record ranks them No. 8 in the WAC.
Notable stats
— Knudsen’s 19 total kills for UT is the second highest conference total for any three-set match and is her career high for all matches.
— Knudsen led all players in points with a career-high 21.
— SUU’s Allison Rohrer had a career-high 13 assists in the match.
— Andrea Spasojevic continues her reign as the highest-scoring Thunderbird, increasing her total to 151 while averaging 2.96 points per set.
Next up
Southern Utah will now head to Texas for a two-game road trip beginning with a match against Abilene Christian University. The game will be on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. MDT and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Author: Anden Garfield
Photographer: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
