Price City Hall was filled to the brim on Wednesday, March 26 as members of the Utah State University Eastern Volleyball flooded the building. Their purpose? To be honored by the Price City Council for their outstanding performance on the court, capped off by awarding the key to the city to Head Coach Danielle Jensen. 

Addressing Jensen and the team, Mayor Micheal Kourianos stated,” The council and I felt very proud of the volleyball team and what you did for our community. You brought hope and life by winning the conference; I think several of us know how hard that conference is.”

It was a season to remember for the Eastern Eagles, finishing the season 25-8 overall and 9-1 in conference play – a record good enough to be crowned Scenic West champions. Featuring two NJCAA All-American selections in Agata Zwierzynska and Audrey Atwood, the squad also recorded a Scenic West high five all-conference players. Zwierzynska was also recognized as the Scenic West Player of the Year.

This stellar season saw the Eagles finishing seventh in the National Tournament.

“You are citizens of our community,” said Kourianos,” coming from wherever you come from to be a part of this is just a joyful thing for us … You guys are champions. You’re representing the college, but you’re also representing Price, Utah. That’s huge in our eyes as the council.”

To honor these accomplishments, each member of the squad was presented with a miniature key to the city.

As part of this celebration, Jensen was also recognized and given the key to the city. “This year was awesome,” said Jensen. ” We had a lot of awesome achievements, including the girls winning the conference tournament. And then they represented us well at Nationals, and we’re excited for what lies ahead.”

Jensen received the 2024 Scenic West Coach of the Year in November.

Speaking on her history with the area, Jensen explained,” I was born and raised here and went to school here. We went away for a little bit for school. Then we came back and were raising our family here. And we had an amazing opportunity given to us. Coach (Dave) Paur was the one who was able to bring us in, and it’s been an amazing blessing for our family ever since.”

Eastern is poised for another run in 2025, returning 12 of their 17 players from this season.