Press Release
PRICE, UTAH – Utah State Eastern volleyball picked up a win on Friday and Saturday during the CSN Coyote Volleyball Invitational in Las Vegas.
The Eagles opened the weekend with a tough 3-2 loss on Friday against Mira Costa College. USU Eastern Head Coach Danielle Jensen said after the match that she gives credit to Mira Costa for capitalizing on her team’s mistakes.
“We came out slow against Mira Costa and they jumped on us early. Mira Costa played a great game and took advantage of our mistakes,” said Jensen.
Sidney Springer led the Eagles in scoring with 19 kills along with 20 digs and four blocks. Setter Agatha-Roese Olsen matched a season-high 55 assists in the five-set loss to Mira Costa to lead the team.
The Eagles bounced back later on Friday with a 3-0 win over Victor Valley College. Sophomore Jaelyn Olsen said that after the slow start in the first game of the weekend, her team worked things out before getting the win against Victor Valley.
“We hashed things out on what we struggled with in the team meeting after the Mira Costa game. Also, our bench came and stepped up and played an amazing game,” Olsen said.
Coming off the bench to lead the team in multiple statistics against Victor Valley was freshman Kynsee Mussmann. She finished the game with a team-high nine kills, ten digs and three blocks. Freshman Ragen Flippence led the team in assists with 19 coming off the bench.
On Saturday morning, the Eagles picked up a 3-0 win against Edmonds Community College. Freshman Sarah Mafi led the Eagles in scoring with 12 kills and Roese-Olsen led the team in assists with 39.
During the final game of the weekend, the Eagles took on fellow top 20 opponent Seward County but could not pull out the win and lost 3-1. The Eagles lost the first set 25-12 but regrouped in the second set to pick up the only set win of the match.
Jensen said her team allowed points in key situations that gave Seward confidence to get ahead of her team.
“Seward had some key blocks and serves at different times in the game and we would let them get three to five points in certain sets. When you play a team like Seward you can’t afford to give up that many points,” Jensen said.
Freshman libero Megan Gurr led the Eagles in digs with 26 and Springer led the team in scoring again with 12 kills against Seward.
After their weekend in Las Vegas, the Eagles close their non-conference schedule with a 13-3 overall record. Last year, the Eagles completed the regular season with 10 total wins.
Roese-Olsen said that after this weekend of games that her team is ready for the challenge of conference play.
“I know we have are a good team and I know the girls are working hard because we know the teams are only going to get better from here on out but I know we are ready for the challenge,” she said.
Jensen said that after her team’s non-conference schedule she has an idea of what her team can become.
“The thing that I have learned the most about her team is that we have only touched the surface on how good of a team they can be. They have improved each week and have done things this year that people already that people thought couldn’t happen,” Jensen said.
One of the key reasons for the great start to the season is the leadership and play of Roese-Olsen. Roese-Olsen leads the country in assists with 590 and is averaging 9.83 assists per set. Jensen said that her weekend in Las Vegas was just another example of her play overall this season.
“Aggie had a great weekend and was huge leader in all the games for us, she picked the team up against Mira Costa and pushed the team through all five sets,” said Jensen. “When you watch our team play, Aggie stands out because she controls the floor and tempo of the game.”
Roese-Olsen and the Eagles will host Colorado Northwest in their home opener this Saturday to begin their conference schedule. The match begins at 3 p.m. MST and will be streamed live on YouTube.
Fans can follow the Utah State Eastern volleyball team on Facebook at Utah State Eastern Athletics and at usueasternathletics.com.