Eastern Washington volleyball concluded its competition at the Tiger Brawl Tournament, dropping a 3-2 game to the host team, Memphis. The Eagles showed its determination on Saturday, fighting back from a 0-2 hole to force a fifth set and competing to the very end.
 
"We're very pleased with our team's efforts this weekend," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "We showed resiliency over the three matches and I'm very proud of their growth. As we build towards Big Sky play and the tourney, we've laid a few more bricks on the foundation for success."

Eastern and Memphis opened the game trying to set the tone. Sadie Bacon quickly filled up the score sheet with a kill and an ace. The Tigers then began to pull away from the Eagles, building a 7-3 lead and extended it out to 11-4. As the set went on, Memphis continued to score and keep Eastern off balance to maintain the lead. Bacon made a strong effort at the net, getting back-to-back block assists with Lindsey Russell. The Tigers had built up the lead enough and won the first set, 25-14. They now led the game, 1-0. 

The Eagles came out aggressive in the second set, getting kills from Katie Fleck, Bacon, and Alyssa Radke for the early lead. Memphis did not back off and continued to attack, with Eastern responding each time. The Eagles jumped ahead 16-13 in the set, as the Tigers suffered from attack errors. Eastern extended the lead to 18-14 with Radke and Sage Brustad providing the scoring. Down four, Memphis made its move, ripping of a 7-0 run to pull ahead in the set. Eastern recovered from the run and found its offense again with kills from Brustad and Fleck, pulling to within one at 23-22. The Tigers managed to close out the set, 25-22, and had a 2-0 lead over the Eagles.

Eastern had a .303 attack percentage in the second set and Memphis hit .200.

Down 0-2, Eastern stayed composed as Brustad and Fleck continued to score. The two teams traded points through the first half of the set. The Eagles built a 16-12 lead with a kill from Brustad and Bacon, along with an ace from Fleck. With the lead, Eastern held the Tigers at arm's length, extending the gap to as much as seven points. The team got crucial kills from Radke and Tanai Jenkins, along with more from Brustad and Fleck. The Eagles won the third set, 25-18, and extended the game to four sets.

The Eagles stayed alive with a .282 attack percentage, as the Tigers were held to a .081 percentage.

In the fourth set, Memphis had the edge early, trying to end the game with a 7-5 lead. Jenkins would rise to the occasion for Eastern, scoring a kill and partnering with Brustad for a block to tie the set up. After exchanging scores, the Eagles separated with a 14-11 advantage. The separation was key for Eastern, and the team was able to maintain the lead throughout the fourth set. The team would get kills down the stretch from Brustad and Fleck to secure a 25-21 win and the game was tied at two.

Eastern was sharp in the fourth, recording a .583 attack percentage to keep the game going. Memphis hit .300 in the set.

Now in the fifth set, both teams battled to string any kills together to get to the match-clinching point. Memphis had an 8-5 lead, before a 3-0 spurt from the Eagles tied the set. The score stayed close and was tied at 13, now with the game on the line. Memphis got a key block to give them a clinching opportunity, but Brustad delivered a strike to keep the game going. Brustad would then give Eastern a chance to clinch themselves with another kill for a 15-14 lead. The Tigers tied the match up on the next ball with a kill. Again, Brustad fired in a kill to push the team to match point at 16-15. Memphis managed to tie the set at 16, then scored again to go ahead 17-16. The Tigers dropped in the final kill to win the set 18-16 and the game 3-2.

Eastern Washington had a .205 attack percentage in the five-set game, while Memphis finished with a .175 percentage.

Key Statistics
The game was highly contested, with 39 ties and 18 lead changes.

Sage Brustad scored a match-high 18 kills against Memphis, finishing with a .318 attack percentage. The junior narrowly had another double-double with nine digs, adding one block assist.

Four Eagles recorded double-digit kills and the team had 61 total for the game. Memphis recorded 53 in the game. Along with Brustad's 18, Katie Fleck recorded 13, one shy of her career best. Alyssa Radke had 12 kills to give her a new career-high and Sadie Bacon added 11.

Makenna Collins set a new career-high with 31 digs against the Tigers. The sophomore's previous high was 24 against Idaho State last October.

Lindsey Russell amassed 51 assists on Saturday, along with three block assists. Russell was one assist shy of her career-high mark(52), and it is the second most assists in single game for her career.

The Eagles had seven service aces but had 18 service errors.

Eastern recorded 10.0 blocks, with Bacon and Tanai Jenkins leading the team with five block assists. Jenkins added six kills and hit .364 in the game.  

Up Next
Eastern Washington will be back on the road next weekend for two matches against South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D. The first game will be on Friday, September 2^nd at 4 p.m. Pacific Time, followed by game two on Saturday, September 3^rd at 9 a.m.