The No. 10 Utah State Eastern women's volleyball team embarked on a road trip to Idaho to take on the No. 20 College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles and the North Idaho College Cardinals.
The first action of the weekend featured a ranked matchup between No. 10 Eastern and No. 20 Southern Idaho. The first set was a competitive match that saw neither post a lead of more than four points. After earning a 25-25 tie, CSI went on to score two more points to take the first set, 25-27. The second set saw a quick start by CSI, jumping out to a 13-7 lead. The Eagles were unable to recover as Southern Idaho won the second set, 20-25. The third set was the set of the match as both teams found themselves tied at 28-28. Eastern took the lead on a block by Clara Philipsson and Audrey Atwood, but it was CSI that scored three-straight points to take the set 29-31, winning the match 3-0.
Madeline Newbold led the Eagles with 12 kills, with Audrey Atwood adding eight more in support. Clara Philipsson had four blocks to lead the Eastern defense.
The Eagles then travelled to North Idaho College to take on the Cardinals in Eastern's final road conference match of the regular season. North Idaho jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after taking the first set, 20-25. USU Eastern immediately responded by winning the second set, 25-20. Eastern rode momentum to a 25-22 win in the third set, taking a 2-1 lead in the match. The Eagles committed seven errors in the fourth set that led to a 19-25 win for NIC, tying the match at 2-2. In the decisive fifth set, USU Eastern jumped to an early 6-2 lead. NIC responded with an 8-0 run, taking a 10-6 lead. Eastern attempted a comeback, but the Cardinals pulled off the upset, 3-2.
Currently sitting at 15-8 overall and 3-5 in conference play, the Eagles have two matches remaining against Colorado Northwestern and No. 5 Salt Lake. If the Eagles win both matches this weekend, they will earn the No. 4 seed in the SWAC Conference Tournament. If Eastern loses one on the weekend, North Idaho will have to lose to CSI for USU Eastern to make the conference tournament.
The Eagles will next take on the CNCC Spartans on Friday, October 31, at 6:00 p.m.