By Calvin Jensen, USU Eastern Volleyball
Sweeping seems to be something the 20th ranked women’s volleyball team is getting used to. The Lady Eagles dominated the competition at this weekend’s invitational in Sterling, Colo. against many nationally-ranked programs.
In their first matchup on Friday, the Lady Eagles dominated Casper College 3-0. Later that evening USU Eastern, faced a tough 16th ranked Northeastern Junior College. The Lady Eagles, anxious to justify their national ranking, came out ready and took a 2-0 lead on Northeastern. In the third set, the Lady Eagles allowed their errors to deplete a significant lead and they dropped their first set of the contest. After regrouping, they came back and dominated the fourth set, winning the game 3-1.
“These girls want to win. They are simply amazing and so fun to watch play volleyball. They do everything we have asked of them and it shows on the court and on the sidelines. We still have some errors that we need to work through and once they are able to adjust, we will close out these sets we should have won,” said head coach Danielle Jensen.
Saturday would prove to be no different for USU Eastern. The Lady Eagles started their afternoon off with an upset against the 11th ranked Iowa Western Reivers with a sweeping score of 3-0. USU Eastern dominated at the net and the team’s defense made it impossible for Iowa Western to find any answers to a powerful offensive showing by the Eagles. The leaders for this game were outside hitter Kiara Richardson with an impressive 16 kills, middle blocker Kahea Nihipali with four blocks, setter Ashlee McUne with 47 assists and libero Avery Best with 18 digs.
Receiving national votes this week, Western Nebraska would be a tough task and the Lady Eagles knew it. That competition did not phase them as they swept the weekend tournament with a 3-1 win against the Cougars. The team was led by outside hitter Kiara Richardson with another 16 kills while middle blocker Kahea Nihipali was an iron wall with her five blocks. Setter Ashlee McUne ran the offense with 52 assists and opposite hitter Sunny Perry led with 14 digs.
USU Eastern will finish their tournament play this upcoming weekend as they travel to Scottsbluff, Neb. to attend the Wyo-Nebraska Invitational. The Lady Eagles will look to continue their record breaking 17-3 start against Sheridan, Trinidad, Western Wyoming and Eastern Wyoming. Cheer on the nationally-ranked Lady Eagles via Facebook LIVE on their USU Eastern Women’s Volleyball page.