The Southern Utah University women’s volleyball team went down to Tucson, Arizona for the Wildcat Classic to play against North Dakota State University and the University of Arizona. SUU struggled in both games, losing 3-1 against North Dakota State and 3-0 against Arizona.
Game one
Southern Utah faced off against North Dakota State. The Bison got off to a strong start going up 10-5 in the first set. SUU responded with a 13-5 run thanks to a pair of kills from Charlotte Wilson, Carissa Richie, and Andrea Spasojevic.
NDSU regained the lead later on, but back-to-back kills from Richie gave SUU the win 25-23 in set one.
In set two, it was all North Dakota State to start. Ali Hinze and Alexis Boling helped get the Bison off to a 17-8 lead. Late in the set, Arianna Blohm had a pair of kills followed by a service error from Finley Charapata leading NDSU to the 25-17 win.
SUU scored the first point of the third set and then never saw the lead again. North Dakota State had five different players record a kill, with Boling recording six in the set, including the final point to give the Bison the 25-20 win, going up 2-1.
Southern Utah took an early 6-4 lead with a pair of kills from Spasojevic and Charapata. NDSU responded by going on a 15-4 run to take a commanding 19-10 lead. Southern Utah couldn’t recover from this hole and lost the set 25-15.
Game two
Southern Utah played against the undefeated Arizona. It was a tight first set with neither team gaining a large lead. SUU led 11-9 early on thanks to three kills from Victoria Zibecchi.
After another kill from Zibecchi both teams were tied at 17. Jordan Wilson strung out three kills followed by a pair of kills from Carlie Cisneros to give the Wildcats the 25-21 win.
U of A continued the strong performance, never surrendering the lead. Cisneros and Wilson were dominant in the set, both recording four kills. Cisneros finished the set with a service ace, giving her a team high of 19 on the year, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
Southern Utah once again found themselves at a loss early down 8-2 thanks to six attacking errors. SUU battled and got the score to within three late, but the late push didn’t prevail and Wilson finished the match with a kill securing the 3-0 sweep for Arizona.
What’s next?
Southern Utah will start conference play next week as they face off against Tarleton State University on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m., followed by Abilene Christian University on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. Both games will be played in the American First Event Center and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Author: Jack Paul
Photographer: Gannon Lovisa
Editor: SUU News Copy Editor
