CHARLESTON, S.C. – Ann Clappier and Madi Forsythe finished with match-high nine kills to lead Southern Utah to a 25-18, 25-12, 25-14 victory over The Citadel in the Kristen Dickmann Invitational at Navy on Friday afternoon.
 
Southern Utah (1-0) hit a solid .360 for the match, while the Bulldogs were unable to maintain offensive consistency due to 16 errors. Clappier finished with a .429 attack percentage, while Forsythe capped off the match by hitting .333. Sariah Pelaez led the way for Southern Utah's defense with a match-high nine digs and Faith Ma'afala handed out 33 assists.
 
Bailey Kernodle drove home four kills to lead the way for The Citadel. Kernodle was just one of four Bulldogs (0-1) to finish with multiple kills, joined by Samantha Espy (three), Moriah Smith (two) and Rachel Keefer (two). Senior Amanda Rudnik was the bright spot defensively with seven digs.
 
The Cadets got off to a quick 2-0 lead to open the match before falling into a 13-4 hole due in large part to 10 unforced errors. A series of kills by Kernodle and Lauren Hurt allowed The Citadel to trim the deficit to 13-7, but Southern Utah answered with kills by Remo Gagago, Annie Stradling and Clappier to stretch its margin to eight. Forsythe accounted for the final two points of Thunderbirds' 25-18 opening set victory, following a kill and service ace.
 
Southern Utah took control early in the second set, jumping out to an 11-1 lead behind five service aces by Gaogao. The Citadel ended the scoreless drought with an ace by Keefer and followed with a series of kills by Smith, Kernodle and Megan Sowell to make for a 15-8 contest. The Thunderbirds took advantage of five kills and two services aces in the final 14 points of the set to complete the 25-12 win.
 
Separated by one point in the early stages of the third set, Southern Utah used two kills by Forsythe and two points from Taylor Heine to assume a 10-5 lead. A kill by The Citadel's Dominique Williams briefly pulled the margin to four, before back-to-back kills by Gaogao helped push the Thunderbird lead to 14-6. The Dogs took forced Southern Utah to commit three errors, trimming the lead to 14-9. However, the Thunderbirds managed to complete the sweep by forcing the Dogs into five unforced errors among the final 11 points of the set.
 
The Citadel returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it takes on Providence (1 pm) before wrapping up the tournament against the host Mids at 6 p.m.