Northern Colorado Bears volleyball team sweeps Southern Utah Thunderbirds at home

The University of Northern Colorado (14-5, 7-3 Big Sky) had a steady attack strategy against Southern Utah (8-13, 4-6), hitting .318.

 

A turnaround for the Bears came after a team meeting was called Friday to get the team mentally prepared for the rest of the season.

 

“The just [sic] of the team meeting is we’ve got to let it go,” head coach Lyndsey Oates said of the meeting, called after Thursday’s home loss to Northern Arizona. “We’re starting zero and zero, and we will approach the rest of the season that way — and we’re 1-0 right now — and we have got to go on the road to Montana next week and try to be 3-0, and we’ve really had a fresh start. It was a down-whirl spiral, with the Northern Arizona loss being the bottom of the barrel, so I think we’re on our way back. I really liked what I saw tonight — we’ve had some key positions that have been struggling lately.”

 

The meeting proved to be effective on the court, and sophomore outside hitter Tambre Haddock said the difference — from a player’s perspective — was togetherness and players enjoying their time on the court.

 

“We came out with more unity tonight, and we had a lot more fun tonight playing with each other,” Haddock said. “I think that’s key for us — to enjoy what we’re doing while we’re playing and be competitive while we are having fun.”

 

The first set was dominated by the Bears, winning 25-14. Southern Utah hung with UNC in the last two sets, with closer scores of 28-26 and 25-21, respectively. The second set proved to be a big one for sophomore middle blocker Brianna Strong, who got the Bears to a pivotal game point with a kill.

 

“It definitely had a lot to do with the different mentality that we had set,” Strong said. “The first game was a little slow for me, personally, but we had to get that out of our heads and get better.”

 

Sophomore middle blocker Andrea Spaustat and senior outside hitter Kelley Arnold led the team with 12 kills apiece.

 

Serve returns were a weak spot for the Thunderbirds, who had five receiving errors. Spaustat and Haddock led the Bears with two aces each.

 

Senior setter Marissa Hughes led the Bears with 13 digs, followed by freshmen Allie Hutcheson and Kendra Cunningham, both of whom had 11 digs.

 

“This was a different feel tonight,” Oates said. “It’s not about the win — it’s about how we played. We played well tonight. We’re definitely on the right track heading toward the rest of the season. We need to peak Thanksgiving weekend. This is a good step in the right direction.”

 

UNC’s next test will come in the form of a three-match road trip — a weekend visit to Montana on Friday and Montana State on Saturday, followed by a visit to in-state rival University of Denver on Tuesday of next week.

 

October 14 Standings:

 

 

School	.	Conf		Pct		Overall		Home		Away		Streak
Idaho State		9-1		0.900		15-4		7-0		4-2		W5
Portland State		9-1		0.900		13-8		4-2		5-4		W1
Northern Arizona		8-2		0.800		16-3		3-0		7-3		W5
Northern Colorado		7-3		0.700		14-5		8-3		4-2		W1
Montana State		5-4		0.556		11-6		3-2		4-3		L1
North Dakota		5-5		0.500		9-11		5-4		2-5		L1
Southern Utah		4-6		0.400		8-13		3-2		3-6		L3
Sacramento State		3-7		0.300		7-12		4-3		2-6		W1
Montana		2-7		0.222		4-14		3-5		0-6		W1
Weber State		2-8		0.200		8-13		1-5		2-6		L1
Eastern Washington		0-10		0.000		0-21		0-5		0-9		L21