The Southern Utah University women’s volleyball team competed in the Southern Utah Invitational on Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept, 7. The Thunderbirds dominated over the two day tournament winning all three games and improving their record to 3-3 on the season.
Game one
Southern Utah faced off against the University of Idaho in the first match of their three-game weekend. Southern Utah was led by Victoria Zibecchi who led the T-birds with five kills. Madu Fontes led the Vandals with five kills as well, yet Southern Utah won the first set 25-15.
Idaho kept things close early in the second set, with the score tied at 14. SUU turned on the jets making an 11-3 run to close out the set and win 25-15. The final point was made off an attacking error on Emma Patterson.
The Thunderbirds got out to a fast start leading by as much as 10 points and on the brink of sweeping the Vandals. Idaho didn’t go down without a fight, going on a 9-3 run, cutting the lead to just four, but the Thunderbirds put the match away with a kill shot from Zibecchi giving SUU the 25-20 win and securing the 3-0 sweep.
Game two
Southern Utah faced University of California, Riverside. It was a tightly contested first set going back and forth. Midway through the set, UC Riverside committed a service error followed by three straight attacking errors giving SUU a 18-13 lead. The Thunderbirds would hold on and win the set off an Andrea Spasojevic ace.
The pace was once again controlled by Southern Utah. Zibecchi led the Thunderbirds with four kills while Trinity Sheridan led UC Riverside with four kills as well. SUU finished the second set winning 25-18.
In the third set, both teams went back and forth, neither going on big runs. The Thunderbirds held a slim 20-18 lead late in the set when Amaya Tobias had a pair of kills that earned the 3-0 sweep for SUU.
Game three
SUU faced off again against the University of Idaho in their last game of the invitational. Southern Utah got off to a strong start, leading by as much as 12 points. Senior Molly McDermott had five kills including a kill on for the final point.
Idaho was leading 13-10 after a bad set from Charlotte Wilson and an attack error on Spasojevic. The Thunderbirds bounced back, going on an 11-3 run and taking a 21-16 lead. Spasojevic made up for her early attack error with three straight kill shots to win the set 25-20.
Idaho scored the first three points in the third set, yet Southern Utah went on a 17-2 run to blow the set wide open. Madison Walker finished the match with one of her four kills giving the Thunderbirds the 3-0 win.
What’s next?
Southern Utah will head back to California for their third tournament of the year at Santa Clara with their first match against Fresno State University on Friday, Sept. 13 at 12 p.m.
Author: Jack Paul
Photographer: Katie Anderson
Editor: SUU News Copy Editor
