The Southern Utah University women’s volleyball team will look to start fresh in their first Western Athletic Conference game as they host rival Utah Tech University in the America First Event Center in Cedar City on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m.
This game will also be streamed on ESPN+.
Southern Utah
SUU’s only win so far came in the Lumberjack Classic versus the University of California, San Diego, who they defeated 3-1. Besides that game, they’ve been swept in four games and lost in four sets in two others, souring the tournament play of first-year coach Danielle Jensen.
The standout offensive player for SUU continues to be opposite hitter Victoria Zibecchi, who leads the team in kills with 106. She’s also third in blocks, but leads the Thunderbirds in attacking errors. Setter Asya Akbulut is by far SUU’s most prolific assister, leading the team by a wide margin. The junior from Turkey has 70 more assists than any other SUU player.
Outside hitter Kaitlyn Hoelker has been a jack of all trades for the team, ranking second in kills, digs and service aces, as well as ranking fourth in blocks.
Among the WAC, middle blocker Amaya Tobias is tenth in hitting percentage, with 67 kills and 27 errors in 172 attacks. This makes her the most efficient attacker on the team despite being fifth in kills. Akbulut and setter Swayzee Mason are seventh and tenth in assists per set, and middle blocker Kaitlyn Aleshire is eighth in blocks per set. No other SUU players are top-10 in the conference in any major rate stats.
Overall, the stats that SUU leads or ties their combined opponents in are attacks, ball-handling errors, blocking errors, reception errors, and attacking errors, which speaks to their defensive struggles this year. If the Thunderbirds want to take down their rivals on Thursday, they’ll have to cut down on mistakes first and foremost.
Utah Tech
The Trailblazers have had a much smoother start to the year, with a record of 9-3. They’ve recorded six sweeps and two wins in four sets
Middle blocker Casidy Fried leads the WAC in hitting percentage with 68 kills in 144 attacks, but Utah Tech’s most notable point-getter is outside hitter Kennedi Knudsen. The senior from Gunnison, Utah blows the entire conference out of the water with 214 kills, or nearly 5 per set.
Knudsen also has nearly 2.5 digs per set, good for seventh in the conference. She recently won her fourth straight WAC Player of the Week honors.
Utah Tech is rich with top-10 WAC talent, including middle blocker Taylor Snow who ranks second in blocks per set, third in hitting percentage and eighth in points per set.
The Trailblazers have dominated their opponents, leading in nearly every stat besides attacking errors, reception errors and blocking errors. The T-Birds should prepare for an offensive onslaught, as well as focus on Knudsen and her aggressive play style.
SUU is 4-5 against Utah Tech all-time, and won their last game against them in 2024. All four of their wins came in a sweep or 3-1 victory, and all happened at Utah Tech. Three of their five losses came in five-set games.
Author: Payson Davis
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul
