Photo by Jeff Barrett
USU Eastern Press Release
The Lady Eagles are gelling at the right time as they picked up their fifth straight conference win by defeating the College of Southern Idaho on the road Saturday afternoon. The crucial Scenic West Athletic Conference victory places the Lady Eagles in a solid second place standing as they look ahead to the final week of conference play.
It was a thrilling display of talent by both the defense and offense against the Golden Eagles of Southern Idaho. Sophomore middle blocker Kamryn Wiese had back-to-back season high stats with a remarkable 17 kills and three blocks from the middle of the net. Sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Simmons also had a season high offensively with 15 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Otero put up four blocks to lead the team, protecting the net. Sophomore setters Ashlee McUne and Camber Dodson kept CSI’s defense on the move, combining for 48 assists in the game, while Emma Ricks chalked up an impressive 29 digs.
Assistant coach Nesreen Iskandrani had this to say about the win and recent success of the Eagles, “These past couple games, we have leaned on one another and worked collaboratively as a team to get the job done. Throughout the first couple sets against SLCC, our rally execution screamed ‘we want this game.’ We fought as a team in both games and came home with some important wins.”
A win against CSI was important for the Lady Eagles as it inched them closer to solidifying second place in Scenic West standings. All eyes will be on a matchup between #10 Snow College and #3 Salt Lake this Thursday evening as that outcome will determine significant standing implications for USU Eastern as they prepare for the Region 18 tournament. A loss by Salt Lake on Thursday will put USU Eastern in a first-place tie with the Bruins as statistics are in favor of USU Eastern to win that tie breaker.
In their regular season finale, USU Eastern (18-7, 7-2) will travel to Rangely, Colorado on Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. to compete against Colorado Northwestern Community College (0-20, 0-9). Those unable to attend can watch the game live on the Scenic West Digital Network.