USU Eastern Press Release:

PRICE, UTAH – Utah State Eastern volleyball defeated the Colorado Northwest Spartans in the first round of the Region XVIII tournament Friday in Ephraim.

The Eagles defeated the Spartans 3-0 to advance to the Region XVIII Tournament semifinals against top seed College of Southern Idaho.

In the first set the Spartans had control of the momentum and led the Eagles by three points multiple times in the set.

The Eagles would come back and tie the game at 24 a piece. In the end a kill by Sarah Mafi and an error by CNCC would give USU Eastern the 26-24 set win.

Momentum would continue to stay with USU Eastern as they would begin the second set with an impressive 8-1 start.

Eastern would hold the lead until CNCC would come back and tie the set 24-24.

Critical errors by CNCC would give the Eagles a 27-25 set win heading into the eight-minute intermission.

The third set saw the Eagles jump out to an early 12-3 lead over the Spartans.

CNCC would close the gap to 15-10 before the Eagles would pull away and take the set 25-13.

The win gives USU Eastern Head Coach Danielle Jensen her first tournament win at the helm of the program.

Volleyball now has a 18-9 overall record and a 5-6 record in conference.

Last year the Eagles finished the season 10-17 overall and lost in the first round of the conference tournament.

The Eagles next game against CSI will take place at 4 p.m. and it will be broadcasted on the SnowTv YouTube channel.

**Photo by Tyson Chappell