Press Release
PRICE, UTAH – The Utah State Eastern volleyball team picked up four more wins on Friday and Saturday at the Roughrider Invitational in Prescott, Arizona.
Eastern began the invitational on Friday with a 3-2 victory over New Mexico Military Institute. The game went back and forth until the Eagles united and never gave up said head coach Danielle Jensen.
“We stuck together and had girls step up that wanted that game. The girls just refuse to back down against any team,” she said.
One of the players that stepped up in a big way offensively for Eastern was freshman Sarah Mafi, who finished the game with 26 kills, 6 blocks and 18 digs.
“Sarah Mafi was a huge standout for us with the win against NMMI. She made huge plays through out each set and really led the team to that win,” said Jensen.
The attitude of never giving up showed in the fifth set when Eastern outscored NMMI 15-7 to close out the game. Sophomore Agatha Roese-Olsen led the team with a season-high 55 assists in the win against NMMI.
After their battle with NMMI, the Eagles defeated the Eastern Arizona Gila monsters in four sets 3-1.
Against Eastern Arizona, sophomore Sidney Springer led the team in kills with 14. She also had four aces and 11 digs in Fridays win over the Gila monsters.
The Eagles continued their winning streak on Saturday morning with a tough match against tournament host Yavapai. Eastern took the first set 27-25 before giving up the next sets to Yavapai including a lopsided 25-11 loss in the second set. The team rebounded in the fourth set, winning it 26-24.
After the game, Mafi said that when it came down to it, the whole team was the reason why they overcame the close game and pushed it through to a five set match.
“In close games, we have definitely learned that it takes every single person on the team to win the game. Whether you’re on the sideline cheering or on the court, you have to give it your all,” said Mafi.
Going into the fifth set, Eastern came together and everything starting clicking as a team, according to Springer.
“Our passing was on, we were getting kills and had girls making huge plays,” said Springer.
Springer and the rest of her team overcame the 2-1 deficit and defeated Yavapai in the fifth set 15-13. Freshman Brooke Anderson led the Eagles in blocks after finishing the game with five. Libero Megan Gurr was another freshman that helped on the defensive end for Eastern. She finished the game with a team-high 25 digs
After the game, Springer, a team captain, said the freshman on the team were huge for their team in Arizona.
“Our freshman are doing incredible. They all have such different rules but they jumped right in and took care of things,” said Springer.
To close out the tournament, Jensen and her team defeated South Mountain Community College 3-1.
Eastern opened the match with a 25-21 win in the first set but dropped the second set 25-14 to South Mountain.
The final two sets of the match were won by the Eagles to keep their winning streak alive thanks to less mistakes and bench support according to Mafi.
“On the court, we took out a lot of our own mistakes. We didn’t miss serves like we did on the first day,” said Mafi.
Sophomore Jaelyn Olsen led the Eagles with five blocks while contributing with a team-high two aces and eight kills.
Freshman Mackenzie Carter scored seven kills and two aces in the victory over South Mountain.
Jensen said after the game she is proud of the way her team responded in close games and how they played as a team.
“To finish those games was huge for us. This team has a lot of heart and drive. The girls play for our team not themselves and it has made a world of difference for our program,” said Jensen.
Next weekend, Utah State Eastern will head to Rangely, Colo. for the Blue Mountain Inn and Suites Invitational.
Her team is undefeated, but Jensen said that there is still work to be done as they prepare for this upcoming weekend.
“We have got to work out things with our defense and making sure our offense runs a little smoother. We just need to fine tune somethings and get comfortable with what we are doing,” said Jensen.
They will take on #6 Western Nebraska on Friday morning and then play Sheridan College that afternoon. On Saturday, they will play Eastern Wyoming and Western Wyoming to finish out the weekend.
Fans can follow the USU Eastern volleyball all season long on Facebook at Utah State Eastern Athletics and on Twitter at twitter.com/usueathletics.