PRICE – Utah State Eastern volleyball defeated #4 College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles 3-1 on Friday night in Twin Falls.

CSI opened the match with a 12-4 start which set up a 25-14 first set win. A big part of the first set win for the Golden Eagles was their .355 hit percentage.

In the second set of the match the Eagles caught fire.

With the score 9-9, the Eagles would go on a 8-2 run helping them finish the Golden Eagles in the second set 25-20. The Eagles had three service aces in the second set with a .171 hit percentage.

"After the loss in the first set we all just came together and realized that for a lot of us this is the last time we'll ever play CSI so we just gave it our all and had so much fun," said USU Eastern sophomore Sarah Mafi. 

Sophomore Mackenzie Carter led the Eagles with four kills and two aces in the second set.

The momentum would stay on the Eagles side in the third set with another set victory to go up 2-1 on CSI.

"We started playing defense and we generated our energy and momentum off that. When that happened our offense started to work and we kept going with it," said USU Eastern Head Coach Danielle Jensen.

USU Eastern had only two errors in the third set with a .350 hitting percentage while CSI had nine attack errors and four service errors.

CSI wouldn't go down easy in the fourth set, they would erase a seven-point deficit after being down 22-15.

The Eagles will pull through to get the final points of the fourth set and get the 25-21 win.

"This win is huge for us!  We just set a new standard for ourselves and we're excited to keep playing up to it," said Mafi.

Mafi would go on to lead the Eagles with 15 kills along with nine digs.

Carter finished the night with 14 kills, nine digs, and a team-high four aces.

"She killed it tonight like she always does. I feel like when she's on fire it gets the rest of us hyped up," said Mafi.

Jensen said that Carter definitely came to play on Friday night

"From her passing to her defense to her serving, she put the team on her back and said lets go," said Jensen.

Alexus Desmarais's 12 digs and Savannah Scott's four blocks led the Eagles defensively.

Friday's win over CSI was the first win over the Golden Eagles since 2009 and the first under Jensen.

"I am super proud of the girls and how hard they can continue to keep working. We have had our ups and downs all season and we have had to come in each week and work on something different to compete with these teams," said Jensen.

The Eagles will have a quick turn around as they will take on #3 Salt Lake Community College on Saturday in Taylorsville at 3 p.m.

They currently sit at 3-3 in the conference standings and 12-10 overall with four games left of the regular season.