Utah Tech Clinches a Share of the Big Sky Volleyball Title in Its First Season

Utah Tech volleyball has clinched a share of the Big Sky regular-season championship in its first season in the conference. The Trailblazers beat Southern Utah 25-12, 25-22, 18-25, 25-15 on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at America First Event Center in Cedar City, improving to 21-4 overall and 14-1 in the Big Sky, according to Utah Tech's recap. The Big Sky standings list the same records, with Utah Tech first at 14-1 and Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado tied for second at 10-4.

Utah Tech was picked seventh in the league's preseason coaches' poll, with 57 points and one first-place vote, in an 11-team field led by Northern Colorado, the 2025 Big Sky Tournament champion, according to the Aug. 19 release. Southern Utah was picked last, 11th.

How Utah Tech clinched in Cedar City

Utah Tech's recap said the win clinched a share of the Big Sky regular-season crown, and the team's own preview the day before had set the stakes in the same words: a win at Southern Utah would lock up at least a share of the title. With the Trailblazers three matches clear of Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado in the standings with four to play, two wins in their last four would make the title outright. After Tuesday, the recap said, they are one win in their final three matches from the outright title.

The first set decided the tone. Utah Tech led 6-3, then ran off a 9-1 stretch to lead 15-4 after blocks from Cass Klapp and Sydney Reese, and finished with kills from Tessa Treanor and Klapp and blocks from Klapp and Nana Asiata, according to the recap. The second set was closer. Southern Utah led 7-2 early and 15-9 later, and was still ahead 21-18 when the Trailblazers scored seven of the last eight points, capped by back-to-back kills from Reese and Asiata.

The Thunderbirds kept the match from ending in a sweep by taking the third set 25-18. In the fourth, with Southern Utah ahead 9-8, Utah Tech answered with a 6-0 run that began with a service ace from Treanor and an attack error by SUU. A Treanor kill made it 19-12, and the Trailblazers finished the set on a 6-3 run, ending the match on a Southern Utah attack error.

Who led Utah Tech

Senior opposite hitter Nana Asiata had 12 kills and hit .280, her 13th match with double-digit kills this season, per the recap. Treanor, a senior outside hitter, had 10 kills and 11 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Reese added nine kills and seven blocks.

At the net, fifth-year middle blocker Casidy Fried led the team with nine blocks, matching her career high with four solo blocks, according to the recap. Utah Tech finished with 16 blocks to Southern Utah's six, a season high that topped their previous best of 15 at UC Irvine on Sept. 12. Annalyse Shimada entered the week tied for fourth in the Big Sky in blocks per set at 1.08, per the Nov. 9 preview.

The setters split the work. Marley Roe had 18 assists and 10 digs, her 13th double-double of the season, and Tehanie Waters had 14 assists. Libero Mya Laufiso led all players with 18 digs. Utah Tech outhit Southern Utah .133 to .014 and led in assists, 38-33, and digs, 69-55, according to the box score.

Southern Utah's best moments

For the match Ryen Smith and Audrey Atwood each had eight kills for Southern Utah, and Smith and Natalie Moore each had three blocks. Atwood dug 11 balls, and setter Celeste Uruena Jensen had 14 assists with 10 digs, per the box score.

Coach Danielle Jensen said before the match that the rivalry was circled on her team's calendar. "Utah Tech is always an exciting match up for us," she said in SUU's preview. "It's a rivalry game, and our players get really excited about the opportunity to compete against them." The Thunderbirds' offense had been at its best in the stretch before the match, averaging 12.3 kills per set over their previous three, according to that preview, and Atwood led the team with 171 kills entering the week, per Utah Tech's notes. The announced attendance was 278.

SUU is 1-24 overall and 0-15 in the Big Sky in its first season back in the league, according to the standings. Southern Utah's team page has its remaining schedule, which includes a trip to Greeley on Nov. 12, Portland State at home on Nov. 18 and Northern Arizona at home on Nov. 20.

A program-record season takes shape

The title share caps a run that we followed from the start of conference play, when the Trailblazers were 5-0 in the Big Sky. Their 16-match winning streak, the longest in the program's NCAA era, ended at Idaho State on Nov. 5, according to Utah Tech's Nov. 9 preview. The Trailblazers answered with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 sweep at Weber State on Nov. 7, their 13th sweep of the season, tying the program record also set in 2018 and 2025.

Several marks are within reach. Per the Nov. 10 recap, Utah Tech is one win from matching its most in an NCAA-era season, 22 in 2014 and 2018. Its 9-2 road record ties the most road wins in a season, also from 2014 and 2018. It was a win over the Thunderbirds for the sixth straight time, and the Trailblazers lead the all-time series 9-5.

Head coach Camilla Hafoka is in her sixth season at Utah Tech and was the 2025 WAC Coach of the Year, when the Trailblazers went 21-6 and shared the WAC regular-season title with Utah Valley, according to her official bio. Read more about the university on the Utah Tech school page, and follow every match on the Utah Tech volleyball team page.

What is left on the schedule

Utah Tech's last road match of the regular season is Friday, Nov. 13, at Northern Colorado (14-11, 10-4 in the Big Sky) at 6 p.m., at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. It then returns to Burns Arena in St. George for two home matches: Northern Arizona on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m., and Portland State on Friday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m., which the schedule lists as Senior Night. Admission is listed as free for both.

The Big Sky Tournament follows at Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, with quarterfinals on Monday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m., semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 4 p.m., and the championship on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m., according to Utah Tech's schedule. The NCAA first and second rounds are listed for Dec. 3-5.

Key facts:

• Result: Utah Tech 3, Southern Utah 1 (25-12, 25-22, 18-25, 25-15), Nov. 10, 2026, America First Event Center, Cedar City, Utah; attendance 278
• Clinch: at least a share of the Big Sky regular-season title, per Utah Tech's recap; one win in three remaining matches makes it outright
• Records after the match: Utah Tech 21-4, 14-1 Big Sky (first in the standings); Southern Utah 1-24, 0-15
• Preseason pick: Utah Tech seventh of 11 in the Big Sky coaches' poll
• Utah Tech leaders: Nana Asiata 12 kills; Tessa Treanor 10 kills and 11 digs; Casidy Fried 9 blocks; Marley Roe 18 assists and 10 digs; Mya Laufiso 18 digs
• Southern Utah leaders: Ryen Smith and Audrey Atwood 8 kills each; Celeste Uruena Jensen 14 assists; Atwood 11 digs
• Team numbers: hitting .133 to .014; blocks 16-6; digs 69-55
• Head coach: Camilla Hafoka, sixth season
• Next: at Northern Colorado, Nov. 13, 6 p.m.; Big Sky Tournament Nov. 23-25 in Flagstaff