(St. George, Utah - Oct. 1, 2026) - The Trailblazers defeated Northern Colorado in four sets in Burns Arena on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to eight matches.
Utah Tech (11-3, 4-0 Big Sky) won the opening set, 25-23 before dropping a marathon second set to Northern Colorado (6-8, 2-1), 28-30 before taking set three, 25-22 & set four, 25-20.
Sophomore opposite hitter
Cale Torgerson led the Trailblazers with a season-high 12 kills notching her first double-double of the season adding 10 digs.
Nana Asiata and
Sydney Reese each registered 11 kills apiece and senior outside hitter
Tessa Treanor tallied her third straight double-double notching 10 kills & 10 digs.
Marley Roe led the way with 27 assists & added 11 digs and
Annalyse Shimada led the Trailblazers at the net with 11 blocks, including a pair of solo stops.
How It Happened
The Trailblazers raced out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set on kills by Shimada and Torgerson and a block by Asiata & Shimada, but the Bears answered back with three straight to tie the opening set at 4-4.
Utah Tech answered back with four consecutive points, including Shimada's service ace and a pair of kills by Asiata, and later pushed the margin to 14-9 on a block by Shimada and Asiata.
After Northern Colorado tied the set at 23, a Bear attack error gave the Trailblazers set point at 24-23, and
Lusia Langi finished out the set with a kill for a 25-23 win.
A marathon second set saw the Trailblazers jump out to an 18-16 lead after a solo block by Shimada. A 6-1 run by Northern Colorado put the Bears up 22-19 and a kill put the visitors on the brink of set point leading 24-21.
Three straight points for the Trailblazers knotted the set at 24 and UT staved off set point for the Bears four straight times tying the set at 28, but back-to-back kills by Northern Colorado evened the match at one set apiece.
The Trailblazers built an early 10-5 lead in the third set behind kills from Shimada, Asiata, Treanor, Torgerson, Reese and
Tehanie Waters.
The Bears answered back with kills around two Northern Colorado service aces to pull within 10-9, but the Trailblazers answered back with a 6-0 run that included a Roe kill and blocks involving Shimada, Asiata and Treanor for a 16-9 advantage.
The Trailblazers pushed the margin to 18-10 on kills by Shimada & Asiata before Northern Colorado worked back within 21-17 and later 24-22, but Treanor finished the set with a kill for a 25-22 win.
The fourth set stayed tight through the middle stages, with the Trailblazers getting early kills from Reese, Shimada and Torgerson before Northern Colorado pulled even at 12-12 and later moved ahead 17-16.
Reese tied the set with a kill, and the Blazers scored the next four points on Dahle's serve, including blocks involving Shimada, Reese and Treanor, to move in front 21-17.
The Bears cut the Trailblazers' lead to 21-19, but Reese and Asiata answered with kills, and the Trailblazers closed the match with a 25-20 set win on a Bear service error & a block by Shimada & Torgerson.
Numbers to Know
- The Trailblazers improve to 2-0 all-time against Northern Colorado joining a win over the Bears in 2025.
- Utah Tech won their 13th straight home match and 17th in their last 18 home contests.
- The eight-match winning streak is Utah Tech's longest winning streak since 2018.
- The Trailblazers led the Bears in kills (60-57), hitting percentage (.256-.191), blocks (14-8) while Northern Colorado led in service aces (6-3) & digs (62-58).
- Torgerson led the Trailblazers in kills for the first time this season and topped her previous season high of 10 set at Hawaii on Sept. 3.
- Utah Tech remains one of only two Big Sky teams (Idaho State at 3-0) who remain undefeated in conference play.
Up Next
The Trailblazers remain at home next week hosting Weber State (9-4, 2-1) next Thursday and Idaho State (11-4, 3-0) on Oct. 10.
