(Ogden, Utah - Aug. 30, 2024) - The Trailblazers got the 2024 season underway on Friday afternoon defeating Denver in five sets before falling to host Weber State in four sets at the Weber State Wildcat Invitational.

A back-and-forth opening match saw the Trailblazers win 25-14, 17-25, 16-25, 25-21, 15-10 over Denver.

The afternoon matchup saw Weber State win the opening two sets, 25-19, 25-15 before the Trailblazers won the third set, 25-18 while the Wildcats took the fourth set, 25-20.

Denver Recap
A 6-0 run for the Trailblazers in the opening stanza of the first set pushed UT ahead, 13-4 and three straight points for the Blazers sealed the opening set win, 25-14 after a kill by Asiata.

Back-to-back wins for the Pioneers in the second and third sets gave DU a 2-1 lead, but the Trailblazers quickly answered back in the fourth set. With the Blazers narrowly leading 16-15, Utah Tech used a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 21-15 as a kill by Roe sealed a 25-21 set win.

After playing in nine five-set matches a season ago, the Trailblazers and Pioneers went to a deciding fifth set. Denver jumped out to a 6-5 lead, but a 6-0 run for the Trailblazers pushed UT ahead 11-6.

With the teams trading points, back-to-back kills by Knudsen sealed the 15-10 set win to give the Trailblazers their first season-opening win since 2022.

Junior outside hitter Kennedi Knudsen led Utah Tech with 18 kills against the Pioneers while redshirt freshman newcomer Nana Asiata tallied 12 kills in her first match as a Trailblazer.

Junior middle blocker Casidy Fried had a team-leading four service aces while sophomore setter Marley Roe led the team with 25 assists.

The Trailblazers led the way over DU in kills (59-54), service aces (11-4) and blocks (9-7).

Weber State Recap
With the Wildcats winning the opening two sets, the Trailblazers avoided a sweep with a 25-18 win in the third set.

Utah Tech got action started with a 6-0 run and used a 4-0 run midway through the set to extend their lead to 17-9.

Another 4-0 run, finished off by a kill from Asiata, put the Trailblazers ahead 24-15 and an attack error by the Wilcats kept UT alive in the match.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats used a late 10-6 run in the fourth set to break open a one-point lead for a five-point win.

Knudsen led the Trailblazers again in kills with 11 while Fried totaled a team-best nine blocks.

The trio of Mya Laufiso, Roe and Tessa Treanor each tallied double figures dig totals with Laufiso leading the way with 12.

Up next
The Trailblazers close out the Weber State Wildcat Invitational on Saturday taking on Denver at 12:30 p.m.