There was nothing but smiles for Eastern Washington volleyball on Friday night, as they defeated South Dakota State, 3-2. Junior Sage Brustad powered the win with a career-high 22 kills, while hitting .210 in the game.

"Our team showed a lot of poise tonight against a solid team in South Dakota State," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "We knew they would be well coached and would make in-game adjustments. Our focus was to "out-team" them and play our brand of volleyball. Hats off to our entire team as they added another brick to the foundation for this season."
 
The Eagles jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the game, getting kills from Sage Brustad and Sadie Bacon. After SDSU pulled the score to one at 4-3, Eastern went on a 7-0 run to separate from the Jackrabbits. Alyssa Radke and Katie Fleck sparked the run, contributing both kills and blocks to the effort. SDSU countered with a 5-0 stretch to get the game back within reach. The key stretch for Eastern was a 4-1 run, after already leading 15-10. The run was all the separation the Eagles needed, and they cruised to a 25-21 set one win and a 1-0 lead in the game.

Eastern hit .282 in the opening set, while holding the Jackrabbits to .089.

Moving to the second set, the Eagles kept the intensity up, building a 5-1 lead early. SDSU would mount a comeback and tie the set up at 10. Bacon would then get back-to-back kills to give the lead to Eastern. The two teams traded points, but Bacon continued to score effectively in the set. She delivered a key service ace to give the Eagles a 17-12 lead. The Jackrabbits did not go away, continuing to score and keeping Eastern in reach. Renata Lopez Morales would provide important kills down the stretch for the Eagles to maintain their advantage. Bacon would clinch the set win for Eastern with an ace for a 25-21 win and the team's lead was now 2-0.

The Eagles had a .222 hitting percentage in the second set and continued to contain SDSU's attack to a .108 percentage.

With a 2-0 lead, Eastern faced a determined effort from the Jackrabbits in the third set. The set was tied five times early, settling at 6-6. SDSU then made its move, going on an 8-1 run to give their efforts to extend the game a chance. The Eagles battled back, pulling within three at 13-16, as Brustad continued to rack up kills. The Jackrabbits pushed the lead to 20-15, before another counter from Eastern. Led by Radke, the Eagles closed the gap to 18-20. Despite the effort, SDSU scored the next five points to take set three and the game was 2-1 in favor of Eastern.

The Eagles were held to a .044 hitting percentage, while the Jackrabbits hit .194.

In the fourth set, SDSU continued to attack aggressively, building early separation from Eastern. The Jackrabbits built a 14-9 advantage, looking to extend the game again. The Eagles would pull within two at 13-15 with an ace from Lindsey Russell and another kill from Brustad. SDSU responded and continued to stay ahead of Eastern with its offense. The Jackrabbits would win the fourth set, 25-18, and the game was tied at two.

The attack for the Eagles again struggled in the set, hitting .097, as SDSU had a .207 percentage.

For the second straight game, Eastern would go to five sets, dropping the last contest to Memphis, 2-3. The Eagles would score first and continue to stay one up on the Jackrabbits. Eastern would push their lead to 9-5 on a block from Radke and Lopez Morales. The game was not over and SDSU kept the set close. With the Eagles up 14-12, the Jackrabbits scored two straight to even the set. The score would be tied again at 15, before SDSU jumped ahead. Brustad delivered with the match-saving kill and quickly scored the go-ahead kill on the next point. Leading 17-16 and serving, Russell dropped in an ace and clinched the game for the Eagles with an 18-16 win in the final set.

Eastern won the matchup 3-2 and hit .357 in the fifth set, finishing .190 overall for the game. The Jackrabbits hit .206 in the fifth and .155 for the game.

Key Statistics
Sage Brustad's 22 kills was for the game-high, with SDSU's Crystal Burke, and it is her second 20-kill game of her career. She previously had 20 kills against Portland State in February of 2021. Brustad nearly had a double-double with nine digs in the game.

Lindsey Russell earned a new career-high with 56 assists, topping her previous best of 52 back in October of 2021 against Idaho State. It is her third 50-assist game of her career and second this season. Russell also recorded her 11^th career double-double with 14 digs tonight. The senior was one dig away from matching her career high.

Sadie Bacon had a highly efficient night, notching 16 kills and hitting .467 on 30 total attacks. Bacon led the team with three service aces and had three block assists.

Eastern had four players with double digit digs, including Russell. Makenna Collins led the team with 19 and now has 17 double-digit dig games in her career. Morgan Blazzard set a new career-best with 16 in her young career. Katie Fleck added 12 for her career high, along with nearly earning a double-double after having nine kills.

The Eagles had 10 blocks against the Jackrabbits, getting seven block assists from Renata Lopez Morales and six block assists from Alyssa Radke. The two each had eight kills in the game as well. SDSU had 16 blocks in the game.

Eastern recorded six service aces, while the Jackrabbits had nine.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will play South Dakota State tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. before heading home.