CEDAR CITY – Hosting Tarleton State on Saturday, SUU volleyball dropped a five-set thriller in the regular season finale.
The Texans ran out to an early 5-1 lead in set one, but the T-birds answered with four straight points to tie things up. Tarleton would later gain a slight edge after a lot of back-and-forth, taking a 15-14 lead. Southern Utah would respond by going on a dominant 8-1 spurt, making it 22-16 for the home team. The Texans battled back to get within one (23-22), but SUU recorded the final two points to win the set 25-22 and take a 1-0 match lead.
Set two was a back-and-forth affair to start, as the score remained deadlocked through 30 points (15-15). The T-birds were then able to get up by two (19-17), but Tarleton State cut the deficit to a single point just a moment later. An immediate 6-1 run from Southern Utah to end the set would give them the edge, as they claimed the set 25-19 to take a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was another close battle, as the two sides were tied at 19-19 late. Three straight Thunderbird points made it 22-19, but the Texans countered with a 3-0 run of their own to even the score at 22. The score would remain tied at 24 all, but TSU would tally the final pair of points to win the set 26-24 and make it a 2-1 match.
Tarleton State took an early 11-6 lead in set four, but the T-birds answered with a 5-0 spurt to even the score. The remainder of the set saw the teams trade points, but the Texans would ultimately edge out SUU to win the set 25-23 and even the match at two sets apiece.
Set five was even through the first 14 points, but a 5-1 run by the Texans put the visitors ahead, 12-8. The Thunderbirds would cut the deficit to two (14-12), but Tarleton scored the final point to win the set 15-12 and complete the reverse sweep match victory, 3-2.
Victoria Zibecchi led the Thunderbirds in kills in the loss, tallying 19. Asya Akbulut led the way in assists with 41, while Aleeya Jones totaled a team-high 25 digs.
Up next
Southern Utah (3-20, 2-10 WAC) heads to Abilene, Texas, for the 2025 WAC Volleyball Tournament.
As the No. 7 seed, the Thunderbirds will be matched up with the No. 2 seed and co-regular season champion Utah Tech in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, Nov. 20.
First serve is slated for 3 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+.
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics.
