Facing the Mavericks on the road, the T-birds dropped their first conference match of the season on Thursday night.
UT Arlington jumped out to an early 9-5 advantage in set one before a 6-0 run put them ahead 15-5. Southern Utah was unable to get out of the early hole, as the Mavericks rolled to a 25-13 victory and 1-0 lead in the match.
UTA’s momentum continued into set two as they scored the first eight points. SUU battled back to get within six (15-9), but that was as close as they would come. Using a 6-0 run in the latter part of the set, the Mavericks closed out the set to win 25-14 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three was back and forth, with the T-birds taking a 15-12 lead into the first media break. Southern Utah attempted to pull away from there, taking a 22-17 advantage. The Mavericks notched the following two points to cut the SUU lead to three (22-19), but the road team ended the set on a 3-0 spurt to win 25-19 and cut the match deficit to 2-1.
UT Arlington started the fourth set on a 3-0 run, riding the momentum to a 15-5 lead. SUU battled back to get within seven (18-11), but the Mavericks tallied seven of the final nine points to take the set 25-14 and record a 3-1 match victory.
Teniyah Leuluai led the offensive attack with 28 assists, while Finley Charapata added 10 kills on the defensive side.
Thunderbird soccer earns first conference point, secures fourth shutout of the season
Up next
Southern Utah (6-8, 2-1 WAC) returns to Cedar City to host rival Utah Tech on Saturday, October 5.
The rivalry matchup is slated to begin at 1 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+.
