Riverton, WY – With just a few days in the gym following their Iowa tournament, USU Eastern’s 4th ranked women’s volleyball team traveled into Wyoming to take part in the Midway Tournament hosted by Central Wyoming Community College.
First up for the Lady Eagles was Colby College out of Kansas. Too many early errors by USU Eastern led to a 23-25 first set loss to the Trojans. Shaking off the nerves, the Lady Eagles came back and dominated the next two sets (25-12, 25-14) which set both teams up for an all-important fourth set battle. In the end, after a point for point showdown, the Lady Eagles were victorious defeating Colby 3-1 in overtime with a 30-28 victory.
Outside hitter Sammy Perry led the scoring with another 17 kill performance followed close behind by right side hitter Alyssa Simmons with fifteen. Middle blocker Lindsey Otero not only added 11 kills but she also put up seven blocks against Colby. Setter Ashlee McUne had 36 assists and 20 digs and libero Emma Ricks led on defense with 29 digs in the game.
Later that evening the Lady Eagles faced 8th ranked Western Nebraska for the second time in their early season. USU Eastern was ready to avenge their only loss from the prior week’s tournament against the Cougars and they did just that with a 3-1victory (22-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-20) led by outside hitter Baby Moleni with 16 kills and Sammy Perry with fourteen. Aces continue to be a powerful tool for the Lady Eagles with a total of 7 in the game against the Cougars led by Perry with four. Ashlee McUne racked up another 33 assists and Emma Ricks had 24 digs.
The following day USU Eastern began their day with a sweep of Casper College in which each member of the Lady Eagle squad took part in the dominating win 3-0 win (25-18, 25-13, 25-18). Baby Moleni had 10 kills and three aces against the Thunderbirds while Sammy Perry added nine kills of her own made possible by Ashlee McUne with 19 assists with setter Camber Dodson close behind with seventeen. Alyssa Simmons and Lindsey Otero defended the net with 5 blocks a piece and Emma Ricks protected the backcourt with 18 digs.
On their home court and in front of a rowdy crowd, tournament host (now No. 8) Central Wyoming would be the toughest competition of the weekend. The Rustlers had upset No. 3 Snow College the evening before the matchup with USU Eastern. The Lady Eagles came out swinging with 16 kills in the first set helping them get the first set win 25-20. Trading point for point throughout the second set, the two teams battled it until the Rustlers gained a two-point advantage which would eventually haunt the Eagles after losing the close set by a score of 25-27. A quick start for USU Eastern in the third set led to two early timeouts for Central Wyoming and that momentum wouldn’t retreat as the Lady Eagles pulled out the win in the third set, 25-19. Scoring only 8 kills in the fourth would lead to disaster for the Lady Eagles, catapulting Central Wyoming into a fifth set showdown after a 14-25 fourth set defeat. The Lady Eagles once again dominated the fifth set early on which forced another early timeout by the Rustlers. That timeout would be enough to exchange the momentum and allow Central Wyoming back into the game with an eventual final set victory with a score of 10-15.
Baby Moleni and Sammy Perry each put up 17 kills against the Rustlers. MB Lindsey Otero had 6 blocks and middle blocker Kamryn Wiese put up 5 of her own at the net. Ashlee McUne had 29 kills and Emma Ricks continues to dominate defensively with 30 kills.
“There were so many positives and so much progress that came out of this weekend and that is what we are focused on. Although we would have loved to get the tournament sweep, I couldn’t be happier with their performance. The entire team stepped up to get the three wins; whether cheering from the bench or working together on the court. They got a good taste of what it requires to compete against top competition and that is huge for us going forward,” said head coach Danielle Jensen.
With just a few days at home, the Lady Eagles (6-2) will travel to Prescott, Arizona as they take part in the Dalton Street Invitational . Four out of the five games played will be against top twenty teams including #7 Florida Southwestern State (2-1), #12 Barton College (8-0), tournament host and 14th ranked Yavapai College(2-2), and receiving votes is Wallace State (9-1). They will begin the tournament in an evening matchup against Eastern Arizona on Thursday, September 2 at 6:00 p.m. MST
All games will be streamed LIVE on Facebook under the Utah State Eastern Athletics page.