The growth of Eastern Washington volleyball team was clear on Saturday night, as they defeated Portland State on their home court, 3-1[25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 25-17]. After dropping the first meeting against the Vikings(2-3), the Eagles played a complete team game and earned a win in their final regular season road game.

With the win, Eastern is now 5-9 in the Big Sky and 10-16 overall this season. Portland State falls to 10-5 in conference and 15-11 for the season.

"It was a tough win tonight. Our team battled all night and, in the end, a few balls bounced our way," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "We had a heart-to-hear meeting after our match on Thursday and came up with a solid game plan. Our team played together and I'm very proud of their effort tonight."

The Eagles benefited from a balanced attack, as Sage Brustad led the team with 12 kills, followed closely by Katie Fleck with 11. Sadie Bacon added 11 in the middle and locked the net down with six total blocks.
 
Eastern set the tone for the match in the first set, building out a 10-4 lead over the Vikings. The Eagles continued to expand their lead, separating by as many as seven points in the first set. Fleck and Brustad traded off in scoring to propel the early advantage. Portland St. would deliver the counter, going on a 9-2 run to tie the set at 18. Brustad came up clutch with a kill and an ace to give Eastern back the lead. Bacon would deliver the finishing kill for a 25-21 win in the opening set and handed Eastern a 1-0 lead in the game.

The Eagles started with a .212 attack percentage and limited the Vikings to .122 hitting.

The second set was more competitive early on, as there would be 11 ties in the set. Portland St. found some separation at 15-13 and were able to extend the lead to 21-14. Bacon would continue to swing well for the Eagles, but the Vikings had momentum for the set. They tallied 15 kills in the set and won, 25-19 to even the game at one.

The attack for Eastern sputtered and the team hit only .094. Portland State improved with a .333 percentage.

Going to the third, the Eagles found their swing from the first set again and were ahead 7-4 early. Renata Lopez Morales provided a pair of kills in the set to add further balance to the offense. Brustad, Fleck and Bacon were focused in and maintained their aggressiveness. After building a 15-11 lead, the Vikings closed the gap and would cut the lead down to one at 20-19. The Eagles would stay composed and Brustad provided a timely kill. Alyssa Radke would step into the offense, launching a kill to help push the Eagles' advantage. Eastern took the 2-1 lead in the game with a 25-21 win in set three.

For the third set, the Eagles brought their attack percentage up to .207, while the Vikings were hitting .194.

With the lead, Eastern had its sights set on closing out Portland St. on the road. The desire was clear early, as the Eagles were up 5-0 in a blink of an eye. Bacon dropped in an ace and the team had kills from Brustad and Lindsey Russell. The Vikings could not recover from the early deficit, as Fleck would record four kills in the set. Radke came up big in the fourth as well, getting four kills to complement Fleck. Eastern would secure the 3-1 game victory with a 25-17 win in the fourth set.

Eastern Washington held a .219 attack percentage for the game. Portland St. would end the game with a .207 percentage overall.

Key Statistics
Lindsey Russell recorded 37 assists and two kills on Saturday night to coordinate the Eastern offense. Russell now has 18 games this season with 30 or more assists.

Sadie Bacon set a career high in blocks with two solo blocks and four assists.

Eastern cut down its errors from Thursday's game to only 16 tonight.

Portland St. had 13 service errors with only four aces. The Eagles had five aces with eight errors.

The Eagles had a 9.0 to 8.0 edge in blocking against Portland St.

Ellie Garrett had her first double digit dig game of the season, recording a career high 15. It is her second career game in double figures for digs.

Sage Brustad hit .211 in the game and was close to a double-double with eight digs in the game.

Alyssa Radke was a strong fourth weapon for the Eagles, recording eight kills.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will return home for its final two games of the regular season. They will host Northern Colorado on Friday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. and Northern Arizona on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. for senior night. Eastern can secure a spot in the Big Sky Tournament with a win next weekend.