SUU VB - Southern Utah Volleyball Splits Results in Extended Sets Add Comment    Sep 19, 2010

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Aug. 28 - Southern Utah stretched both of its games to extra sets during the final day of the UniWyo Wyoming Invitational, defeating Northern Arizona 3-2, but falling to Central Arkansas 3-1.  The results give the T-Birds a record of 2-2 to open the season.

"I'm pleased with our effort today because we played hard and left everything on the court," head coach Debby Baker said after the matches.  "I thought Alyssa (Youart) did a great job coming in today and Tess (Lawrence) played well coming off the bench."

Southern Utah drew the early game again on day two and took the long way to capture a 3-2 victory over Northern Arizona.  The win was highlighted by a pair of school records as Analaine Pelaez recorded 29 kills and Caitlin Jensen tallied 24 digs.

The T-Birds trailed early in the first set, falling behind 3-0 before coming back to tie the game on a Pelaez kill, NAU attacking error and a Jensen service ace.  Southern Utah then took the lead on another Lumberjack error and never looked back, despite a final push by NAU with game point at 24-16.  Northern Arizona fought off four set points, but a final Pelaez kill punctuated the set 25-20.

Southern Utah then dropped the next two sets 25-22 and 25-22, despite late leads in both frames.  Service errors were a strong thorn in the T-Birds' sides during the third set as the team committed five miscues behind the service line.

Neither team built much of an advantage during the fourth set until the Thunderbirds finally made a run at 14-14 with a 5-1 shift to take a 19-15 lead and prompt an NAU timeout.  SUU continued to press and finished out the set with a 6-4 advantage to force a fifth set with the 25-19 victory.

The T-Birds cruised in the fifth set, building a quick 3-0 lead and keeping at least a three-point margin throughout the remainder of the frame.  SUU had a match point at 14-9, but NAU delayed the Thunderbird victory, stretching the game to the final outcome of 15-11 on a Hailey Moore kill.

Southern Utah was strong on defense during the match with school records in blocks (13.0) and digs (84), helping the team to victory in the final two sets.

The Thunderbirds encountered the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears in the evening tilt and saw UCA come out with a quick start in the first set.  The Bears used a .469 hitting percentage and broke the T-Birds on 10 of 13 serves to take the first set 25-13.

Southern Utah regained its composure in the second set, taking the frame 25-20.  The highlight of the set came as SUU setter Brittney Clark ran under the net to keep a ball alive, leading to an Thunderbird kill.  The frame was punctuated at the net as Pelaez recorded a solo block to cinch the set.

SUU trailed most of the third set, but the T-Birds battled back late to tie the game at 19-19, 20-20, 22-22 and 23-23 before fighting off a UCA set point at 24-23.  Southern Utah tallied back-to-back points to grab a set point of its own at 25-24, but a three-point run by the Sugar Bears closed out the set 27-25.

The two teams were deadlocked at 9-9 in the fourth set as Central Arkansas began an 8-4 run, prompting a Southern Utah timeout.  UCA continued on the attack to bring the score to 20-15 as Baker called the team's second timeout of the frame.  However, the Thunderbirds were unable to recover and fell in the final set 25-19.

SUU was held without a double-digit attacker during the match as Pelaez and Jazmine Ma'afala led the team with nine kills.  UCA was led by a trio of double-digit attackers, led by Jessica Hays with 22 kills, Taylor Hammonds with 17 and Chloe Smith with 12.

Following the tournament, Pelaez was named to the all-tournament team as she totaled a team-high 62 kills over the four games.

Southern Utah will be back in action next weekend when the Thunderbirds take part in the Hampton Inn Drake Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa.  SUU is slated to face North Dakota, Drake and UW-Green Bay over the two day tournament.

att: SUU-NAU.pdf (box score); SUU-UCA.pdf (box score); Clark-Wyo1.jpg (Brittney Clark action shot)-Utah College Sports News staff and wire reports

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Utah College Sports Wire