USU Eastern Press Release:
PRICE, UTAH – Utah State Eastern volleyball defeated the College of Southern Nevada Coyotes 3-2 Thursday in Las Vegas.
The Eagles overcame numerous errors and being down 2-1 in the match to come back to win it in five sets.
Utah State Eastern had 14 service errors and 27 attack errors against CSN.
The Eagles won the first set 25-21 with sophomore Sidney Springer leading the way with nine kills.
CSN came back in the second and third sets with back to back 25-23 wins to take the lead.
Utah State Eastern Head Coach Danielle Jensen said her team’s mistakes and shift in momentum in CSN’s favor is the reason for the teams losses in the second and third set.
“It is hard to keep the energy when we make silly mistakes, we had a five point lead early in the match and we got comfortable and stopped playing smart,” Jensen said.
Springer and the Eagles came back in the fourth set with the help of freshman Sarah Mafi and sophomore Jaelyn Olsen.
Mafi had five kills and Olsen had three kills in the fourth to help the Eagles tie the match up at two sets a piece.
Jensen said that was key for her team to have others step up offensively to help get back in the game and grab the win.
After the game freshman libero Megan Gurri said the lack of energy and errors were what put the Eagles behind before the fourth set.
“We needed to find the energy that we were lacking and build on it,” said Gurr.
That energy continued as her team finished the match with a 15-9 win in the fifth set to remain unbeaten in conference play.
Mafi said her team’s momentum is what carried them in a game they really wanted.
“We had so much momentum going into the fifth set, we all knew we had to go all out for our team,” she said.
Mafi was the second leading scorer for the Eagles after finishing the night with 15 kills along with 17 digs.
Springer led Eagles in scoring with a team-high 27 kills along with 8 digs.
Sophomore setter Agatha Roese-Olsen finished the night with a season-high 58 assists in the win.
Jaelyn Olsen had another productive game on both sides of the net for Utah State Eastern, she finished the night with seven kills and eight blocks.
After the game, Jensen spoke highly of the performance of Springer and Roese-Olsen and their impact on this year’s team.
“Those two have been the backbone of our team this year, Aggie played the entire nigh with an injury and still had a career high. Sidney was a beast on the court tonight and is a strong leader and keeps the team going,” she said.
With the win the Eagles now have a 15-3 overall record, a five-game improvement from last season’s total.
They will continue on the road this Saturday with a matchup against # 8 Snow College in Ephraim.
Fans can watch the game on the SnowTV YouTube Channel beginning at 1 p.m.
For more information about Utah State Eastern Athletics, go to usueasternathletics.com.