Eastern Washington volleyball had a night on Friday, as the team swept Idaho, 3-0[25-13, 25-16, 25-11], in Moscow. Eastern were extremely efficient in its attacks and had a strong night defending the net. The Eagles improved to 1-2 in the Big Sky and 6-9 overall this season.

"Our team played well in all phases of the game tonight," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "I'm so proud of how they handled themselves and didn't get rattled when we got some pushback. Winning on the road is hard and we're very pleased with the win. It's another brick in the foundation of what we all want for this program. We'll take a couple of days off and get back to work Monday, as we prepare for Weber State and another tough challenge."
 
Eastern organized early and jumped out to a 7-3 lead over Idaho. Sage Brustad tallied three quick kills to give the Eagles the advantage. Eastern would then extend the lead out to 12-4 with Alyssa Radke and Sadie Bacon contributing kills to the run. As the set went on, Eastern continued to extend its lead, building a 10-point advantage at 15-5 and 18-8 later. The Eagles would get good blocking in the set, and caped off the set win with a block by Bacon and Lindsey Russell. Eastern won the set 25-13 and led 1-0 in the game.

In the first set, Eastern hit an astounding .565, while holding the Vandals to a .061 percentage.

Idaho looked to even the game up in the second set, starting out with a 6-1 run to get in front. The Eagles remained poised and continued to score, keeping the Vandals close. Trailing 4-8, Eastern went on a 5-0 run to take the lead. Brustad had a kill and an ace, with Katie Fleck and Radke contributing a kill. After trading points, the Eagles separated with a 15-10 lead, powered by two aces from Casonndrah Polo. The lead was all the Eagles needed in the set and they went on to win, 25-16, getting back-to-back aces from Makenna Collins to close out the second.

Eastern had a 2-0 lead in the game behind a .364 hitting percentage in the second set. Idaho hit a .227 percentage.

The Eagles were now focused on closing out the Vandals in three sets. After Idaho started with a 2-1 advantage, Eastern countered and raced ahead, 5-2. Radke was the offense for the Eagles early in the third, striking for a pair of kills and extending the lead. Next it was Fleck's turn to score, and she delivered with a pair of kills for a 13-9 lead.  Brustad did not slow up in the third set, and she delivered a pair of kills and an ace to extend the Eastern lead to 20-10. The Eagles completed the sweep of the Vandals with a 25-11 win in the set, while hitting .364.

Eastern Washington finished with a .433 attack percentage and held Idaho to a .064 mark. Idaho falls to 3-12 on the season and 0-3 in conference.

Key Statistics
Lindsey Russell had 32 assists in the game, with two block assists and two kills. Russell now has 1512 assists as an Eagle.

Sage Brustad recorded 14 kills and had a .423 attack percentage. The junior added four digs and one ace, with one block assist.

Eastern had a 9.0 to 2.0 block advantage over Idaho. Alyssa Radke and Sadie Bacon each had five block assists in the game. Renata Lopez Morales had four block assists as well.

Katie Fleck had nine kills on 10 total attacks for a .800 hitting percentage.

The Eagles had only nine attack errors in the game as a team.

Makenna Collins led the team with seven digs.

The win marked Jon Haruguchi's first Big Sky win as head coach.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will have an extended home stand starting next week. The team will host Weber State on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. On Saturday, Oct. 8 Eastern will play Idaho State at 2 p.m. at Reese Court.