@UNCBearsVB Sweeps Southern Utah, Sets Up Saturday Showdown

Thursday, November 10

Cedar City, Utah

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

18-9

Southern Utah

4-23

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Northern Colorado	25	25	25	3
SUU	15	21	18	0

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

11/10/2016 9:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Northern Colorado volleyball swept Southern Utah to set up winner take all match at North Dakota

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Northern Colorado volleyball took care of business Thursday night sweeping Southern Utah (25-15, 25-21, 25-18) to set up a winner take all match on Saturday against North Dakota for the regular season Big Sky title.

How It Happened
After Southern Utah jumped out to a 4-1 lead on its senior night, the first set became all Bears.
UNC strung together runs of 9-2 and 5-1 to take control of the set going up 15-8. Northern Colorado hit well during that stretch with seven kills, while SUU had four attack errors and two ball handling errors during it. The Bears went on one last run in the set of 6-2 to take it 25-15.

In the second set it was once again Northern Colorado runs that proved to be the key during the set. The Thunderbirds got out to the early lead again, but a 3-0 run from the Bears made it 7-7, and later on a 5-1 run gave the team control of the set. The latter run was capped off by kills from Kim Weissmann and Kortney Lockey. UNC slowly grew its lead throughout the rest of the set, and took the 2-0 match advantage to the locker room after a Weissmann kill to end the second set.

Coming out of the break Southern Utah came out with a purpose, going up 5-0 quickly on the Bears. The early deficit did not scare UNC though as they won six of the next seven points to even up the third at six. The set remained close until Northern Colorado busted it open with a big 8-1 run to take control 20-14. SUU tried to fight back, but with no prevail as UNC took the set 25-18 and match 3-0.

Game Changer
Known for her big kills, it was Kortney Lockey's digs and serving that was a big part of the Northern Colorado win on Thursday night. She finished the night with a team-high 16 digs, while adding in nine kills, four assists and a pair of aces. She was efficient on the attack with just two attack errors and a .333 attack percentage.

Notables
- With the win and North Dakota's win at Northern Arizona Thursday night, the winner of Saturday's match between the Bears and Fighting Hawks wins the Big Sky regular season title and will host the Big Sky Tournament next week.
- For the third straight match Kim Weissman led UNC in kills with 10 on the night. She had just one attack error, leading to a .375 hitting percentage.
- Northern Colorado's offense was clicking tonight, hitting .356 as a team. Ashley Guthrie set up that strong offensive attack with 30 assists.
- Strong serving led to a tough night offensively for Southern Utah. The Bears had a pair of serving aces from both Guthrie and Lockey, while SUU hit .126 for the match.

Quotable
Head Coach Lyndsey Oates:
"We served really tough tonight. That really opened things up for us defensively to slow them down. It was good to get out in three since we have a big match ahead. I am proud of the way our girls prepared tonight and didn't overlook over Southern Utah."

What's Next?
Saturday morning's match between Northern Colorado and North Dakota will be the match that decides the Big Sky Conference regular season champion, as first serve is set for 10 am Mountain Time.