Jose Briseno – USU Eastern Assistant SID

Photo courtesy of Dallin Grant

The No. 8 Utah State University Eastern Eagles travelled to Ephraim, Utah, to take on rival Snow College Badgers. In the first matchup between the two teams, the Badgers left USU Eastern with a 3-1 lead.

In the first set, the Badgers jumped to an early 4-0 lead. The Eagles battled in the set to take a 15-14 lead. Eastern and Snow battled in the set, but it was the Badgers that came away with a 20-25 win in the first set.

The second set started similarly as Snow took an early 3-0 lead. Multiple three-point runs were made by the Badgers to take the second set, 16-25.

Needing a win in the third set to continue the match, Eastern jumped to an early 10-7 lead before the Badgers rallied for a five-point run. After Snow took a 10-12 lead, the Eagles could not recover. The Badgers won the third set, 20-25, to sweep Eastern 3-0.

Audrey Atwood and Emilia Zug each had nine kills to lead the Eagles. Atwood added 12 digs to help Ella Persson (12 digs) anchor the Eagle defense. 20 errors for the Eagles proved to be a difference as Eastern had errors in crucial points of the match.

Next for the Eagles is a trip to Idaho, on October 23, to take on the No. 17 College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles. USU Eastern currently sits at 15-6 on the season, and 3-3 in conference play, which has them tied for third in the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings.