PRICE – Volleyball lost their home opener on Friday night to the fifth ranked Salt Lake Community College Bruins 3-1.
The Eagles opened the game with an impressive 25-23 first set win in front of an electric crowd.
Eagles' Head Coach Danielle Jensen said the energy is what got her team off to a good start.
"Our girls came ready to play, had a lot of energy and were focused," said Jensen.
The Eagles offense was successful in the first set with solid passing and execution according to Jensen.
Sophomore outside hitters Mackenzie Carter and Sarah Mafi each had multiple kills in the first set to help set the tone offensively.
Salt Lake would bounce back in the second and third sets by taking advantage of the Eagles' poor passing and errors.
The Bruins won the second set 25-18 and the third set 25-17 to take a 2-1 lead.
"We got a little comfortable because we won the first set and the energy level kind of dropped. When we play with less intensity and less energy we tend to make more errors," said Jensen.
USU Eastern had nine errors in the second set and 10 errors in the third set.
The defense of USU Eastern would carry the team through out the night however. Consistent effort and hustle on the defensive end would keep the Eagles in the game during the fourth set.
"Our defense was solid all around. I think we did amazing and I loved being on the court and getting things back up," said USU Eastern sophomore Alexus Desmarais.
Statistically on defense, four different Eagles had double digit digs against Salt Lake. Mafi, Carter, Desmarais, and Siara Roberts each had more than 11 digs on Friday night.
In the fourth set the Eagles would battle the Bruins to the very end until they lost the set 25-23 to end the game
"We weren't going to let them walk out of here easily, we were going to hold our own and defend our court.
In the fourth set the score tied six times and there were three lead changes.
Freshman Kiara Richardson finished the night with a team-high 12 kills for the Eagles while Carter and Mafi each had 11 kills.
As the Eagles' setter, Roberts had 42 assists along with five kills.
The Eagles will host third-ranked College of Southern Idaho on Saturday at 3 p.m. inside the BDAC.
Fans can watch the CSI game and every home game on youtube.com/usueastern or on live.ksl.com.
