Eagles Take on CSI, SLCC

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Photo by Tyson Chappell

USU Eastern Press Release

Utah State Eastern volleyball defeated #4 College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles 3-1 on Friday night in Twin Falls.

CSI opened the match with a 12-4 start, which set up a 25-14 first set win. A big part of the first set win for the Golden Eagles was their .355 hit percentage.

In the second set of the match, the Eagles caught fire. With the score 9-9, the Eagles went on a 8-2 run, helping them finish the Golden Eagles in the second set 25-20. The Eagles had three service aces in the second set with a .171 hit percentage.

“After the loss in the first set we all just came together and realized that for a lot of us this is the last time we’ll ever play CSI so we just gave it our all and had so much fun,” said USU Eastern sophomore Sarah Mafi.

Sophomore Mackenzie Carter led the Eagles with four kills and two aces in the second set.

The momentum stayed on the Eagles side in the third set with another set victory to go up 2-1 on CSI.

“We started playing defense and we generated our energy and momentum off that. When that happened our offense started to work and we kept going with it,” said USU Eastern head coach Danielle Jensen.

USU Eastern had only two errors in the third set with a .350 hitting percentage while CSI had nine attack errors and four service errors.

CSI wouldn’t go down easy in the fourth set, erasing a seven-point deficit after being down 22-15. The Eagles pulled through to get the final points of the fourth set and get the 25-21 win.

“This win is huge for us. We just set a new standard for ourselves and we’re excited to keep playing up to it,” said Mafi.

Mafi went on to lead the Eagles with 15 kills along with nine digs.

Carter finished the night with 14 kills, nine digs and a team-high four aces.

“She killed it tonight like she always does. I feel like when she’s on fire it gets the rest of us hyped up,” said Mafi.

Jensen said that Carter definitely came to play on Friday night

“From her passing to her defense to her serving, she put the team on her back and said lets go,” said Jensen.

Alexus Desmarais’s 12 digs and Savannah Scott’s four blocks led the Eagles defensively.

Friday’s win over CSI was the first win over the Golden Eagles since 2009 and the first under Jensen.

“I am super proud of the girls and how hard they can continue to keep working. We have had our ups and downs all season and we have had to come in each week and work on something different to compete with these teams,” said Jensen.

Next up, Utah State Eastern volleyball lost 3-0 to the second-ranked Salt Lake Community College Bruins in Taylorsville on Saturday. Coming off one of the biggest wins in program history on Friday night over #3 College of Southern Idaho, the Eagles had a quick turnaround to take on another top program.

The Eagles started out slow in the first set with a 25-15 loss to the Bruins.

“The energy was definitely lacking in the first set. It took us a bit to get going and settle in,” said USU Eastern head coach Danielle Jensen.

USU Eastern had three service errors and six attack errors in the first set.

The second set would be the closest of the game and the Eagles would fight to the end but lose 25-23. During the set, the Eagles only had three errors and an game-high .360 attack percentage.

“The girls started to play defense and play with more energy. We had to eliminate errors and put up a block and they did that in the second set,” said Jensen.

In the third set, the Bruins closed out the Eagles with a 25-20 win to complete the sweep.< The Eagles had only 12 errors in the game with six crucial service errors as well.

Jensen said that her team’s serving was something that didn’t go the way she would like on Saturday.

“We did execute well on serving today and that hurt us. We need to keep the pressure on them with our serves and we didn’t do that,” said Jensen.

Mackenzie Carter led the Eagles in kills with nine while contributing on defense with six digs. Freshman setter Siara Roberts finished the game with 29 assists and a team-high eight digs along with an ace and three blocks.

Saturday’s loss moves the Eagles to 12-11 overall and 3-4 in conference play. They currently sit in fourth place, two games behind Snow College.

This week, the Eagles will have one game on Saturday at Colorado Northwest at 3 p.m. USU Eastern will return home on Oct. 26 and 27 for games against Snow College and the College of Southern Nevada to wrap up the regular season.

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