Photo by Tyson Chappell
USU Eastern Press Release
PRICE – Utah State Eastern volleyball defeated the Colorado Northwest Spartans 3-0 on Saturday in Rangely, Colo.
Saturday’s game didn’t start too easy for the Eagles as the narrowly defeated the Spartans 25-23 in the first set.
“It took a minute for the girls to get moving and we were slow to generate offense,” said Utah State Eastern head coach Danielle Jensen.
In the second set, the Eagles found their groove and dominated the set 25-14.
“We started playing with more confidence and energy. We were aggressive, and played together as a team,” said USU Eastern freshman Breanne Bitter.
During the third set, the Eagles kept the momentum and closed out the Spartans with a 25-17 set victory.
Sophomore Sarah Mafi led the Eagles with 18 kills on the attack. Mafi now has 308 kills this season, a number that ranks her 24th in the country in kills.
“She is having an awesome season and it has been so exciting to watch her. She has grown so much since she has been with us and I can’t wait to see where she goes,” said Jensen. “She had a great day today and the girls were super excited for her.”
Defensively, Sophomore Alexus Desmarais finished the game with a team-high 15 digs and sophomore Taylor Ferral finished with three blocks. Settera Siara Roberts had 35 assists with a team-high five aces. Bitter had a career-high 12 digs with five kills, two aces and two blocks.
“I thought Breanne did a great job. It was so fun watching her play today. She did a great job all the way around today,” said Jensen.
Bitter’s game on Saturday was a story of in itself. She has come back from an ACL injury that happened during her senior year last year.
“Breanne is one of the hardest workers on our team and had fought back from an ACL injury this year. So, to watch her play is pretty exciting for everyone on our team,” said Jensen.
Bitter said the journey has been long on the road to recovery but she is grateful to be able to be where she is at now contributing more on the floor during the home stretch of the season.
“I have worked so hard to get to where I am now, and having a game like that was just so amazing, I can’t even explain it. I still have a ways to go to be where I was before my injury, but I am absolutely ecstatic to be to the point where I can play the game I love with my amazing teammates,” said Bitter.
The win on Saturday evens the Eagles record in conference at 4-4 with two games remaining on the schedule. This week, they will host a nationally-ranked Snow College team on Friday and then turn around and take on College of Southern Nevada in the regular season finale at home.
“We just need to stay focused and work hard in practice, be aggressive and be unified as a team. Our defense is going to be the key in these next two games,” said Bitter.
Friday night’s game will start at 7 p.m. inside the BDAC and will be broadcast live on the Scenic West Digital Network.