After securing their first win in conference play, the Southern Utah University women’s volleyball team heads to Texas to face Abilene Christian University on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 5 p.m. Following this game, Southern Utah will take on Tarleton State University on Saturday, Oct. 11 at noon.
Both games will be played in Texas and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
Southern Utah
Entering the week, head coach Danielle Jensen and the T-Birds are 2-12 on the year and 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. After starting 0-2 in conference play, SUU picked up a 3-2 win against California Baptist University.
Outside hitter Victoria Zibecchi was a key player in their win over CBU. Zibecchi led the team with 14 kills and two blocks defensively. The junior from Argentina leads the Thunderbirds with 132 kills on the year.
Defensively, Kaitlyn Aleshire and Aleeya Jones have been SUU’s best performers. Aleshire is first on the team with 54 blocks on the year, ranking No. 9 in the WAC. Jones, a graduate student from Wiscasset, Maine has 127 digs on the year.
Abilene Christian
The Wildcats come into the week struggling, losing four of their last five games. Abilene Christian is 7-11 on the season and 1-2 in the WAC. Their lone win in conference play came against the University of Texas at Arlington.
Despite the losing record, ACU ranks second in the conference in assists, kills and service aces as a team. Aubrey Beaver has been lethal up front, notching 198 kills and averaging 3.14 kills a set.
Hannah Gonzalez has been great on defense up front, holding things down for ACU. The junior from Lucas, Texas leads the Wildcats with 56 blocks, averaging .84 blocks a set.
Tarleton State
The Texans enter the week as one of the best teams in the WAC. Tarleton State is 8-7 on the season and 2-1 in conference play, sitting in a tie for second place.
One area Tarleton State thrives in is not committing errors on the serve. The Texans have committed 88 service errors compared to their opponents 133. Victoria Fontenot leads the team with 14 service aces.
Tarleton State has also shown a balanced attack on offense. The Texans have three players who have recorded over 100 kills. Madison Rice-Locket leads the team with 145 kills followed by Madison Frank with 142. LaNeah Lara is third on the team with 127.
Southern Utah is 2-2 all-time against Abilene Christian and 3-1 all-time against Tarleton State.
Author: Jack Paul
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Brooklyn Beard
