SUU VB - Thunderbirds Swept in Final Day of Drake Invitational Add Comment    Sep 19, 2010

DES MOINES, Iowa - Sept. 4 - Southern Utah finished its appearance at the Hampton Inn Drake Invitational being swept by Drake and Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday.  The losses drop the T-Birds to 2-5 on the year as the team will prepare to open conference play next weekend at the Dakotas.

In the first match of the day against Drake, Southern Utah dropped the first set as the Thunderbirds fell behind early, surrendering the first four points of the frame.  The team bounced back to draw within two at 8-6, but a 16-4 run by Drake brought the game to set point at 24-10.  The Thunderbirds fought off three set points with a Kylie Schofield kill, DU attacking error and Tess Lawrence service ace.  However the Bulldogs closed out the set 25-13 on a final Thunderbird attacking error.

SUU took its first leads of the game in the second set with advantages of 4-3, 5-3, 9-8, 10-9 and 12-11, but couldn't hold off Bulldog counter runs down the stretch.  In the end, the Thunderbirds dropped the second set 25-18.

The teams traded points as the third set opened, leading to deadlocks of 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3.  However a 10-1 run by Drake gave the home team a sizeable advantage as the Bulldogs closed out the set and match with a 25-12 victory.

In the nightcap, Southern Utah battled the Phoenix of Wisconsin-Green Bay down to the end in each set, but came up just short in each frame.  The first set featured 14 ties and seven lead changes as the teams culminated with a tie at 23-23.  However back-to-back points by UWGB closed out the set 25-23.

The second and third set was much of the same as the teams went back and forth leading to deadlocks of 23-23.  In both cases the Phoenix closed out the sets with back-to-back points to capture the sets 25-23.

At the conclusion of the tournament, sophomore Tess Lawrence was named to the all-tournament team after leading the team a .245 attacking percentage and finished second on the team with 21 kills.

Southern Utah will be back in action next weekend when the Thunderbirds open Summit League play at North Dakota State and South Dakota State.-Utah College Sports News staff and wire reports

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Utah College Sports Wire