(Cedar City, Utah - Sept. 25, 2025) - The Trailblazers opened WAC play on Thursday night sweeping Southern Utah at First America Event Center.
Utah Tech (10-3, 1-0 WAC) earned its seventh sweep of the season and picked up its second-ever win in Cedar City with the victory taking sets, 25-13, 25-17, 25-16.
Led by a 12-kill performance from four-time WAC Player of the Week
Kennedi Knudsen, the Trailblazers led Southern Utah (1-11, 0-1 WAC) in kills (38-23), blocks (9-3), digs (46-36) and hitting percentage (.246- -.048).
Junior
Tessa Treanor added a season-high 10 kills while
Mya Laufiso tallied a team-leading 15 digs & setter
Marley Roe led the way with 13 assists.
How It Happened
After falling behind 4-1 in the early going, the Trailblazers ripped off a 9-1 run to jump ahead 10-5 after a kill by Treanor.
Back-to-back kills by SUU brought the Thunderbirds within three, but UT again answered back with a lengthy run going on a 9-2 run to jump ahead 19-9 thanks to a kill by Knudsen.
The final three points of the set, finished off with a kill from
Taylor Snow, went to the way of the Trailblazers to win the set by 12.
Another close start to the second set saw the Trailblazers get out to a narrow 7-6 lead.
Three straight points for UT, including back-to-back kills by Treanor, pushed the Trailblazers in front, 10-6 as SUU stayed close leading 14-11 after three straight points from the Thunderbirds.
UT answered back with a 9-1 run that put the Trailblazers out front, 23-12 after a kill by Treanor.
Five of the next six points went to SUU to trim the Trailblazer lead down to seven, but a Thunderbird service error out of a UT timeout gave the visitors the set win.
The final set saw the Thunderbirds get out to a 6-5 lead before UT roared back with a 5-2 run to take a 10-8 lead.
Two straight points for SUU tied the set at 10, but the Trailblazers responded with a 6-0 run and after the Thunderbirds cut UT's lead down to four (20-16), a 5-0 run for Utah Tech sealed the sweep.
Numbers to Know
- Utah Tech evens their record in WAC openers to 3-3.
- The Trailblazers also even their all-time series record against the Thunderbirds to 5-5 and move to 2-4 against SUU in Cedar City.
- It was the first time in nearly a calendar year the Trailblazers have held an opponent under .000 hitting percentage as UT held Abilene Christian to -.022 hitting percentage on Sept. 26, 2024 to open WAC play last season.
Up Next
The Trailblazers open the month of October at home next Thursday (Oct. 2) hosting California Baptist (4-9, 0-1 WAC) at 6 p.m.
