(St. George, Utah - Sept. 29, 2026) - The Trailblazers extended their winning streak to seven matches on Tuesday night defeating Southern Utah in four sets in Burns Arena.
Utah Tech (10-3, 3-0 Big Sky) won the first two sets, 25-18, 25-21, dropped set three, 23-25 before closing out the match with a win in the fourth set, 25-18.
Senior outside hitter
Tessa Treanor notched her fifth double-double of the season leading the team with 15 kills to go along with a season-high 19 digs.
Nana Asiata and
Sydney Reese added 12 & 10 kills, respectively, while
Annalyse Shimada led the way at the net with six blocks, including three solo stops.
Marley Roe tallied a team-best 22 assists and
Kaleinani Watson had a career-high 15 digs along with eight assists.
How It Happened
Southern Utah (1-12, 0-3) scored seven of the first nine points, but the Blazers worked back into the set behind kills from Shimada, Reese, Treanor and
Shaylee Dahle, trimming the gap to 10-8 before SUU moved back ahead 12-10.
Asiata answered with consecutive kills to tie the set at 12, and after a 13-13 tie,
Cale Torgerson's kill and back-to-back blocks involving Shimada put the Trailblazers in front 16-13.
The Blazers stayed ahead from there, stretching the margin to 21-15 during a run that included a Treanor kill and a Reese block, then closed the set 25-18 on consecutive Thunderbird attack errors.
After SUU scored the first two points of the second set, the Trailblazers answered with seven straight points, getting three early kills from Asiata and later kills from
Lusia Langi & Torgerson to move ahead 7-2.
The Thunderbirds cut the gap to 7-5, but the Blazers held the lead through the middle of the set with kills from Asiata, Torgerson, Treanor and Langi before SUU pulled even at 16-16.
Torgerson's kill put the Trailblazers back in front, and a later three-point stretch ending with Treanor's kill pushed the advantage to 22-18. Treanor closed out the set with a kill for a 25-21 win.
SUU built an early 9-3 lead in the third set before the Trailblazers began working back with kills from Torgerson and Roe.
The Thunderbirds continued to lead 16-11Â when the Blazers scored three straight points, including a Reese kill and a block by Dahle and Torgerson, to pull within 16-14.
SUU continued to lead by a pair at 18-16, but the Trailblazers tied the set at 18-18 on a Reese kill and a Reese block, then moved in front 21-19 on an Asiata kill.
The Thunderbirds tied up the set at 21Â and after Treanor & Torgerson kills pulled UT even at 22 & 23, Southern Utah closed the set with consecutive kills for a 25-23 win.
The Trailblazers jumped ahead 7-1 in the fourth set, getting three early kills from Reese, two Shimada-assisted blocks and a Torgerson ace.
The Thunderbirds kept trading points through the middle of the set, but Treanor helped the Blazers maintain separation with four kills between 8-4 & 17-12.
With the Trailblazers pushing their lead to 21-13, SUU scored four straight points before Asiata stopped the run with a kill, and the Trailblazers finished out the match with another Shimada block.
Numbers to Know
- The Trailblazers won their fifth straight meeting against the Thunderbirds and improve to 8-5 against Southern Utah.
- Utah Tech won their 12th straight home match and 16th in their last 17 home contests.
- The seven-match winning streak is the longest in Utah Tech's Division I era.
- The Trailblazers led the Thunderbirds in kills (55-38), hitting percentage (.187-.061), blocks (12-9), digs (67-58) & tied in service aces (2-2).
- Watson's previous career high in digs was 11 set five times while it was Treanor's fourth time leading the Trailblazers in kills.
- Asiata reached double figures in kills for the ninth time this season.
Up Next
The Trailblazers return to action on Thursday night facing 2025 Big Sky champion Northern Colorado (6-7, 2-0) at 6 p.m. in Burns Arena.
