2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds volleyball team

The 2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds volleyball team will represent Southern Utah University in the 2017 NCAA Division I women's volleyball season. The Thunderbirds are led by third year head coach Craig Choate and play their home games at Centrum Arena. The Thunderbirds are members of the Big Sky.

2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds women's volleyball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Division	South
Record	5–7 (0–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Craig Choate (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Annie Stradling Stephens (3rd season) Shane Tye (2nd season)
Home arena	Centrum Arena

Southern Utah comes off a season where they finished 2–14 in conference, 4–24 overall, good for sixth place in the South Division and tied for 11th overall. For 2017 the Thunderbirds were picked to finish sixth in the South, 12th overall, in the pre-season Big Sky poll.

2017 Big Sky Conference volleyball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North
North Dakota  ‍‍‍	4	–	0		1.000			19	–	2		.905
Idaho  ‍‍‍	3	–	1		.750			8	–	7		.533
Northern Colorado  ‍‍‍	2	–	2		.500			9	–	8		.529
Eastern Washington  ‍‍‍	2	–	2		.500			5	–	8		.385
Montana State  ‍‍‍	1	–	3		.250			5	–	8		.385
Montana  ‍‍‍	0	–	4		.000			5	–	12		.294
South
Sacramento State  ‍‍‍	4	–	0		1.000			13	–	7		.650
Portland State  ‍‍‍	3	–	1		.750			12	–	4		.750
Northern Arizona  ‍‍‍	2	–	2		.500			6	–	10		.375
Weber State  ‍‍‍	2	–	2		.500			4	–	12		.250
Idaho State  ‍‍‍	1	–	3		.250			4	–	13		.235
Southern Utah  ‍‍‍	0	–	4		.000			5	–	11		.313
† – Conference champion y- Invited to the NCAA volleyball tournament As of 2017-09-30 Rankings from AVCA

Season highlights

Season highlights will be filled in as the season progresses.

Roster

2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds roster
	Defensive Specialist/Libero 6 Rylee Rogers - Junior 15 Alarie Anderson - Freshman Setters 4 Kacie Huntsman - Freshman 9 Alexis Averett - Sophomore		Outside hitters 1 Sarah Vang - Sophomore 2 McKenzie Van Uitert - Freshman 3 Macky Fifita - Senior 5 Janet Kalaniuvalu - Freshman 11 Elisa Lago - Freshman 20 Leighanne Taylor - Freshman		Middle blockers 16 Miranda Canez- Freshman 19 Anna Cox- Freshman 23 Macail Evans - Senior

Schedule

Date Time	Opponent	Rank	Arena City (Tournament)	Television	Result	Attendance	Record (Big Sky Record)
8/25 10 a.m.	vs. Elon		Halton Arena Charlotte, NC (2017 Charlotte Invitational)		L 3–1 (25–17, 25–23, 23–25, 25–12)	550	0–1
8/25 5:30 p.m.	@ Charlotte		Halton Arena Charlotte, NC (2017 Charlotte Invitational)	C-USA DN	L 3–2 (22–25, 22–25, 25–22, 25–21, 15–6)	550	0–2
8/26 7 a.m.	vs. South Carolina State		Halton Arena Charlotte, NC (2017 Charlotte Invitational)		W 3–0 (28–26, 25–18, 25–18)	778	1–2
8/26 1 p.m.	vs. Belmont		Halton Arena Charlotte, NC (2017 Charlotte Invitational)		L 3–1 (22–25, 26–24, 25–23, 25–20)	778	1–3
8/29 6 p.m.	Utah Valley		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236	L 3–0 (25–18, 25–15, 25–22)	1,156	1–4
9/01 1 p.m.	vs. Howard		Titan Gym Fullerton, CA (Fullerton/Riverside Classic)		W 3–2 (25–15, 26–24, 25–16)	44	2–4
9/02 2 p.m.	vs. Chicago State		UC Riverside Student Recreation Center Riverside, CA (Fullerton/Riverside Classic)		L 3–1 (25–23, 25–20, 18–25, 25–22)	N/A	2–5
9/02 9 p.m.	@ CS Fullerton		Titan Gym Fullerton, CA (Fullerton/Riverside Classic)		W 3–2 (25–21, 25–23, 24–26, 21–25, 15–11)	239	3–5
9/08 10 a.m.	vs. Liberty		Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO (Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic)		W 3–2 (14–25, 25–19, 28–26, 20–25, 15–12)	66	4–5
9/08 6 p.m.	@ Air Force		Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO (Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic)	MW Net	W 3–2 (23–25, 25–22, 25–12, 25–27, 17–15)	402	5–5
9/09 2 p.m.	@ Air Force		Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO (Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic)	MW Net	L 3–1 (25–12, 25–21 ,21–25, 25–21)	259	5–6
9/15 7 p.m.	Utah State		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236	L 3–1 (26–24, 25–18, 29–25, 25–17)	1,447	5–7
9/21 7 p.m.	North Dakota*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236	L 3–1 (16–25, 25–13, 25–18, 25–18)	1,435	5–8 (0–1)
9/23 7 p.m.	Northern Arizona*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236	L 3–0 (25–19, 25–21, 25–21)	987	5–9 (0–2)
9/28 7 p.m.	@ Weber State*		Swenson Gym Ogden, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 235	L 3–0 (25–22, 25–14, 25–14)	378	5–10 (0–3)
9/30 7 p.m.	@ Idaho State*		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	Pluto TV Ch. 243	L 3–0 (25–21, 25–17, 25–20)	559	5–11 (0–4)
10/05 7 p.m.	Idaho*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236
10/07 11:30 a.m.	Eastern Washington*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236
10/12 8 p.m.	@ Sacramento State*		Hornets Nest Sacramento, CA	Pluto TV Ch. 233
10/14 8 p.m.	@ Portland State*		Peter Stott Center Portland, OR	Pluto TV Ch. 232
10/19 7 p.m.	@ Montana*		Dahlberg Arena Missoula, MT	Pluto TV Ch. 237
10/21 7 p.m.	@ Montana State*		Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT	Pluto TV Ch. 238
10/26 7 p.m.	Portland State*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236
10/28 7 p.m.	Sacramento State*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236
11/02 7 p.m.	Idaho State*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236
11/04 7 p.m.	Weber State*		Centrum Arena Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV Ch. 236
11/09 7 p.m.	@ Northern Colorado*		Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO	Pluto TV Ch. 241
11/11 8 p.m.	@ Northern Arizona*		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	Pluto TV Ch. 239

*-Indicates Conference Opponent

y-Indicates NCAA Playoffs

Times listed are Mountain Time Zone.

Announcers for televised games

All home games will be on the Pluto TV Ch. 236. Select road games will also be televised or streamed.

• Charlotte: Sean Fox
• Utah Valley: Bryson Lester
• Air Force: Jason Carter & George Egan
• Air Force: Jason Carter & George Egan
• Utah State: No commentary
• North Dakota: Bryson Lester
• Northern Arizona: Bryson Lester
• Weber State: Kylee Young
• Idaho State: Cade Vance & Matt Steuart
• Idaho: Bryson Lester
• Eastern Washington: Bryson Lester
• Sacramento State:
• Portland State:
• Montana:
• Montana State:
• Portland State: Bryson Lester
• Sacramento State: Bryson Lester
• Idaho State: Bryson Lester
• Weber State: Bryson Lester
• Northern Colorado:
• Northern Arizona: