Traveling to Tucson, Arizona for two matches, the SUU volleyball team suffered defeats to North Dakota State and Arizona over the weekend.
Friday vs. North Dakota State
Trailing 9-4 early in the opening set, SUU responded by taking 15 of the following 22 points to go in front 19-16. North Dakota State finally momentarily stopped the T-birds’ momentum, rebounding with a 6-1 run to regain the advantage (22-20). Southern Utah answered, however, using a 5-0 spurt to complete a 25-22 set one victory.
The Bison again started the second set with an early advantage, jumping out to a 9-3 lead. SUU was able to cut the NDSU lead to four (11-7), but that’s as close as it would get. The Bison pulled away over the remainder of the set, winning 25-17 and evening the match at one set apiece.
Set three began nearly identical to the first two, with North Dakota State leading 9-3 to start. The T-birds answered with a run of their own, using a 9-6 run to pull within three (15-12). The Bison responded with a 4-0 spurt, pushing their advantage to 19-12. SUU continued to push its way back, tallying seven of the next 10 points to make the score 22-19. North Dakota State wouldn’t let it get any closer from there, as they used a 3-1 finish to take the set 25-20 and jump in front 2-1 in the match.
An early 5-1 run gave the T-birds the 6-4 lead in the fourth set, but the Bison answered using a pair of 4-0 runs to go in front 15-9. Southern Utah was unable to find an answer to the NDSU momentum, dropping set four 25-15 and the match 3-1.
Andrea Spasojevic performed admirably in the defeat for SUU, registering 16 kills and 10 digs. Teniyah Leuluai added 30 assists for the T-birds.
Saturday vs. Arizona
In its final non-conference match of the season, SUU was unable to overcome the Arizona Wildcats, who improved to a perfect 11-0 with a 3-0 sweep.
The T-birds were able to keep all three sets close at times but were unable to break away from Arizona and dropped their third straight match.
The Wildcats won the sets by scores of 25-21, 25-19, and 25-20 to send SUU back to Cedar City looking to snap a losing skid.
Southern Utah’s Arianna Rossi and Victoria Zibecchi were named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the weekend’s matches.
Up next
Southern Utah (4-7) returns to Cedar City to open WAC play this week.
The T-birds will battle Tarleton State on Thursday, September 26 at 6:30 p.m. MT. The match can be seen on ESPN+.
