The Southern Utah University women’s volleyball team lost back-to-back road games on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 11 to Abilene Christian University and Tarleton State University.
SUU falls to 2-14 and is 1-4 in their conference. ACU is 8-12 with a 2-3 conference record, and Tarleton State is 9-8 with a 3-2 conference record.
Game one
The Thunderbirds started off on a commanding run. The first set opened with an 11-2 lead for SUU, which ballooned into 20-9. Despite ACU ending on a 10-5 run, SUU took the first set 25-19.
In the second set, SUU fell behind 11-17, but a 9-1 run capped off by two service aces from middle blocker Amaya Tobias put them ahead 20-18. SUU won the second set 25-21 with a service ace from libero Aleeya Jones.
After trading the lead back and forth in the third set, two ACU attacking errors in a row put SUU up 18-16. Unfortunately, ACU then had four kills in a row to start a 9-1 run. The set ended with SUU committing three straight errors, losing 25-19.
While SUU was close behind for the beginning of the fourth set, this was the first set of the match where they never had the lead. The Wildcats won 25-16 and crawled out of an 0-2 hole to force a fifth set.
The final set was dismal for SUU, as they quickly faced a 10-0 ACU lead. SUU still had life, as they went on a 5-2 run to trim the deficit. Two errors and a kill from ACU put the final nail in the coffin as SUU lost the set 15-6 and was reverse-swept in the match, 3-2.
Top T-Birds
— Asya Akbulut was everywhere on the floor with 17 assists and 10 digs, along with two kills and an ace
— Jones was fantastic on the supporting end with 15 digs, six assists and five aces
— Addyson McArthur was SUU’s top attacker with 12 kills, and also recorded five digs, four assists and a block
— Tobias was a jack of all trades with seven blocks, six kills, three aces, two digs and an assist
Game two
The first set started off competitive as the teams became tied 7-7, but Tarleton State went on a 13-4 run fueled almost entirely by kills and SUU attacking errors. SUU fought back with a 7-4 run of their own that included four straight points, but the Texans held on to win 25-17.
SUU fell behind early in the second set as Tarleton State took a 8-1 lead. The teams traded points until the Texans went on another run to double the T-Birds score, 22-11. Just like in the last set, an attacking error from SUU gave Tarleton State the 25-14 win and set them up for match point.
SUU scored right away in the third set to lead for the first time all game. The teams exchanged blows again, with neither leading by more than two points until Tarleton State pulled ahead 14-11. The game fell out of hand for SUU as the Texans ended the set on a 10-3 run, finishing the sweep on a 25-18 victory.
Top T-Birds
— Akbulut shined again with 13 assists, seven digs and an ace, and was the only T-Bird without an error
— Ezgi Kucuk had a team-best .413 hitting percentage, recording a season-high six kills with an assist and a block
— Swayzee Mason recorded 11 assists and five digs
— Victoria Zibecchi had a strong performance after having eight errors in the previous match, recording seven kills, two digs and a block
Up next
SUU will return to Cedar City to face Utah Valley University on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 12:30 p.m. This game will be played in the America First Event Center and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
Author: Payson Davis
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul
