Eastern Washington played two games at the Hampton Inn Classic on Friday, winning in the morning against Arkansas State, 3-1. Later in the day, Eastern dropped a 0-3 game against the host team, Stephen F. Austin. The Eagles are now 4-7 on the season.

"Today was a good learning experience for our team," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "This morning we showed some real poise and battled to a solid win. This evening we came up against a very strong team and they exposed some things that we just need to keep working on. We've got a short turn around and have to show some resilience as we prepare for the match tomorrow."
 
Eagles vs. Red Wolves
Starting Friday off, Eastern faced Arkansas State in the morning matchup.

In the first set, the Eagles established its offense, setting the tone for the game. The Eagles had a 7-5 lead on two kills from Sage Brustad. The Eagles would extend the lead out to 15-8, as six different players recorded kills for a complete team attack. The Red Wolves cut into the lead with a 4-1 stretch to bring the score closer at 16-12. Lindsey Russell continued to spread the ball around, allowing Eastern to continue scoring from multiple players. Sadie Bacon would get four kills in the set to continue the effort, playing off Brustad's energy. The Eagles won the first set, 25-17, and opened up a 1-0 lead in the game.

In the set, Eastern hit a hot, .464 and Arkansas St. hit just .214.

The Eagles flew out of the gates in the second set, racing out to a 9-3 lead. Brustad continued to swing well and added an ace to spark the run. Eastern again pushed the lead out 15-8 as Bacon and Alyssa Radke jumped in with kills for the team. A kill from Radke would put the Eagles up 19-10. With the score at 22-14, the Red Wolves unleashed an 8-0 run to take the lead from Eastern. An Arkansas St. error would give the Eagles a chance to tie the set, but the Red Wolves scored the next point to win 25-23.

The game was now even at one, with Eastern hitting .154 in the second set and Arkansas St. hitting .219.

Looking to rebound in the third set, Eastern attacked aggressively, separating 7-5 early on. The Red Wolves stayed close, trying to replicate their effort in the second set. With the Eagles up 11-9, Brustad had a flurry of five kills to separate from Arkansas St. The kills from Brustad helped Eastern build an 18-10 advantage. The Eagles maintained their lead in the set, with Brustad delivering the clinching kill for a 25-20 win.

Eastern was now leading the game, 2-1, after hitting .375 in the third set. The Red Wolves hit .154.

With the advantage in the game, the Eagles moved to secure the win in four sets. The set started with the teams' exchanging kills, but Eastern managed to get in front of Arkansas St., 6-3. After extending the lead to 10-5, the Eagles braced for the counter from the Red Wolves. The set tightened up, as Arkansas St. looked to extend the game to a fifth set. The Eastern lead was cut to 14-12, but Brustad played the same role she had during the first three sets, coming up with timely kills to maintain the advantage. Radke also continued her efficient game and Renata Lopez Morales added another scoring option to push the Eagles to the set win. Eastern won the game after taking the fourth set, 25-19, and hitting .389 to close out the Red Wolves.

The Eagles won the game 3-1 behind a .305 hitting percentage. Arkansas St. hit .214 in the final set and .194 for the game.

Eagles vs. Lumberjacks
In the night matchup, Eastern faced the home team, Stephen F. Austin.

The Lumberjacks asserted themselves quickly in the first set with a 6-0 run. The Eagles tried get the set back in control, after trailing by as much as eight early on. Eastern cut the lead to 10-16 on kills from Sadie Bacon and a block from Sage Brustad. SFA countered with a 9-3 stretch to secure the first set win, 25-13.

The Eagles were limited to a .167 attack percentage, while SFA rode a .536 percentage to the 1-0 lead in the game.

Eastern started the second set more competitive, opening up a 5-3 lead on the Lumberjacks, with kills from Bacon, Katie Fleck and Alyssa Radke. SFA turned its game on to respond, going on a 6-0 run for a 9-5 advantage. The Lumberjacks kept up the pressure and outscored the Eagles 16-5 over the rest of the set. SFA had a 2-0 lead in the game after a 25-10 win in the second set.

The Eagles managed only a .080 attack percentage. The Lumberjacks hit .455 in the second.

Looking to extend the game, Eastern managed get ahead of SFA early in the third set. The Eagles led 8-7, before the Lumberjacks tied the set up at nine, three points later. SFA began to separate again from Eastern, grabbing a 17-11 lead as they tried to sweep the Eagles. Bacon continued to score for Eastern and she got help from Ellie Garrett's ace, along with a kill from Lindsey Russell to pull back the Lumberjacks to 17-14. SFA found its offense again and put more space between them and Eastern with a 20-15 lead. The Eagles cut the lead to one, as Sage Brustad and Radke would deliver kills, helped by an ace from Russell. The Lumberjacks did not break in the set, scoring the next for points and then went on to win the set, 25-20.

Stephen F. Austin won the game, 3-0, with a .398 attack percentage. Eastern hit .121 in the game.

Key Statistics
Sage Brustad matched her career high with 22 kills against Arkansas St., while hitting .405. Her attack percentage was a new career best(min. five kills). The junior added four service aces and had a solo block, along with one block assist. The stats combine for Brustad's most points in a game for her career, with 27.5.

Against Arkansas St., Eastern recorded nine service aces and had six errors. The team also recorded its third game this season with an attack percentage over .300.

Alyssa Radke matched her career high with six block assists against Red Wolves. The sophomore had 11 kills and a blistering .536 attack percentage in the game.

Lindsey Russell recorded 67 assists in the two games.

Sadie Bacon had 18 kills and seven block assists on Friday. She matched her career high with five digs against Arkansas St.

The Eagles recorded 83 kills in seven sets Friday.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will close out its non-conference schedule tomorrow morning against Texas A&M University-Commerce at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.