(St. George, Utah - Sept. 5, 2025) - The Trailblazers continued their strong start to the season on Friday night sweeping Charleston Southern at Burns Arena.

Posting their fourth sweep of the season, Utah Tech (4-1) notched set wins over the Buccaneers, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.

Led by senior outside hitter Kennedi Knudsen, the reigning WAC Player of the Week notched her second double-double of the season leading the team with 16 kills and 16 digs.

Setter Marley Roe posted a team-leading 23 assists while senior middle blocker Casidy Fried led the team with six blocks, including a pair of solo blocks.

How It Happened
Charleston Southern (2-3) got out to a quick 8-3 start, but the Trailblazers roared back with five straight points, ripping off four kills, to tie the set at eight.

With each team scoring 10 points apiece over the next stretch to bring a 18-18 tie after a kill by Sydney Reese, UT closed out the set on a 7-3 run breaking a 20-20 tie with four straight points and a kill by Knudsen.

The Buccaneers again got off to a strong start to the second set leading 7-4, but seven straight points for the Trailblazers brought UT ahead 11-7 after a kill by Fried.

With CSU getting within a point at 11-10, the Trailblazers reeled off five straight points to extend their lead to 16-10.

A kill by Reese pushed UT's lead to seven (20-13) and the set was closed out with back-to-back kills by Reese and Fried.

Much like the first two sets, CSU led in the early going in the third set taking an 8-4 lead. 

Five straight points for the Trailblazers brought UT back up by one (9-8) with the Buccaneers taking a 14-13 lead after a UT attack error.

That was the final lead for the visitors as the Trailblazers went on a 5-1 run to jump ahead 18-15 and a kill by Emery Harrison put UT ahead by four, 21-17.

The final two points of the set went to the Trailblazers with a service error and a kill by Knudsen to complete the sweep.

Numbers To Know

• The Trailblazers won their first-ever meeting against Charleston Southern.
• Utah Tech led the Buccaneers in kills (51-34), hitting percentage (.316-.170), service aces (2-1), blocks (7-4), digs (51-44) and assists (47-34).
• It is the Trailblazers' second consecutive 4-1 start to the season.
• UT is also out to its first 2-0 home start since 2021.

Up Next
The Trailblazers wrap up the Utah Tech Tournament on Saturday afternoon facing Sacramento State (2-3) at 2 p.m. at Burns Arena.