Jose Briseno – USU Eastern Assistant SID

Photo courtesy of Dallin Grant

The No. 18 Utah State Eastern women’s volleyball team found itself as the No. 4 seed in the Scenic West Athletic Conference Tournament. The conference champions, Salt Lake Community College, hosted the tournament. The Eagles were given a single-elimination matchup against the No. 1-seeded Bruins. The two teams met twice in the regular season, with both ending in SLCC wins.

Eastern and LSCC would battle throughout the first set, but it was the Bruins who took it, 19-25. The second set was a bounce-back for the Eagles with a 25-21 win. SLCC responded with a 17-25 win in the third set to stop Eastern’s grab for momentum. Needing to win the fourth set, Eastern was unable to regain momentum, as SLCC won 12-25, taking the match 3-1.

Audrey Atwood, Amy Baczuk, and Agata Zwierzynska each had eight kills to lead the Eagles. Clara Philipsson had three blocks, while Atwood added 14 digs to help defensively. It was the 27 team errors, however, that hurt the Eagles’ chances in the match.

The Eagles ended the season with a 16-10 record and a 4-6 record in conference play. Audrey Atwood led the team with 276 kills and 2.94 kills per set. She also finished second in digs with 260, which was just behind team-leader Ella Persson, who had 264.