In a rematch versus a team they beat in the beginning of October, the Southern Utah University women’s volleyball team lost 3-0 against California Baptist University on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, California.
This was SUU’s third-straight game being swept and their fifth in their current seven-game losing streak. They have a season record of 2-19 with a Western Athletic Conference standing of 1-9.
CBU snapped a four-game slide, improving to 7-15 overall with a WAC record of 3-7.
First set
The teams traded points early, reaching a 7-7 tie as neither built a sizable lead. Even when CBU had a 6-0 run capped off by three straight kills, SUU responded with a 4-0 run of their own and eventually tied the set at 16-16.
The T-Birds started to slip with four attacking errors from three different players, giving the Lancers a 7-1 run. A good block and service ace by Amaya Tobias kept SUU close, but a service error by Tobias and an ace from Reese Reed gave CBU the first set, 25-19.
Both teams saw error troubles in this set, recording just as many attack errors as service errors. SUU had five of each while CBU had three of each.
Second set
CBU came out strong, but SUU answered back again to keep the score close at 6-5. The Lancers then went on a huge 12-2 run where SUU’s only points came from CBU service errors, icing the set before the T-Birds reached double-digit points.
SUU still put up a fight and didn’t allow any consecutive points to CBU for the rest of the set. They cut CBU’s lead down to seven by the end, but an Emery DeJong kill put the Lancers up 2-0 in the match.
Despite the Lancers having three straight errors at the beginning of the set, the T-Birds struggled even more with accuracy. More than half of CBU’s points came from SUU errors. SUU only had six kills, with Victoria Zibecchi as the only T-Bird to record more than one.
Third set
Looking to reset the momentum, the T-Birds took their first lead of the match since the beginning of the first set by jumping out to 8-4. CBU responded with another run of 7-0 before SUU scored five straight points to retain the lead.
The teams exchanged blows again, staying within two points of each other until the score was tied 18-18. Unfortunately, CBU would prove too aggressive as they went on a 7-3 run with five kills to win the final set 25-21.
This was the first set where SUU was as accurate as their opponents, with both teams committing 10 errors. However, they lost the offensive battle as CBU had 15 kills to SUU’s 10. Over the match, CBU led SUU in every stat besides service aces, where both teams had five.
Top T-Birds
— Asya Akbulut led the team in assists with 17, also notching four digs, a block and an ace.
— Akbulut, Aleeya Jones and Swayzee Mason had the lowest error count with one each.
— Tobias led the team in hitting percentage, kills with six and blocks with four. She also recorded two digs and an ace.
— Addyson McArthur also had six kills along with two digs and an ace.
— Zibecchi played defensively, with five digs, four kills and three blocks.
Up next
SUU returns home for the last two games of the season. The first will be against the University of Texas at Arlington on Thursday, Nov. 13 in the America First Event Center at 6:30 p.m.
Author: Payson Davis
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul
