CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington volleyball hosted Big Sky-leading Sacramento State on Saturday at Reese Court. The Hornets defeated the Eagles, 3-1, behind a strong defensive effort. Eastern is now 2-4 in conference and 8-10 overall.

Sage Brustad led the team with 10 kills, while Bri Gunderson finished with nine on .412 hitting.

"I'm really pleased with our effort. Those first three sets; you could see we were battling," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "We had to take risks against the top team in our conference. Sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don't. We were on the right track of where we want to be at this point of the season."

The first set was a slog between the Eagles and Hornets with neither team hitting effectively. Sac. St. had a .194 attack percentage and Eastern was at .080. The Hornets had the early lead and held the Eagles at a distance for the set. They won the set 25-20 and were up 1-0 in the game. Kalista Lukovich had a pair of kills for Eastern in the set. 

EWU did not panic and refocused in the second set. The team greatly improved to a .464 attack percentage, getting 17 kills on 28 total attacks. Brustad provided four kills in the second, along with two from Gunderson. The Eagles evened up the game with a 25-18 set win. 

"We kept telling our players to stay aggressive. I think when we have that mindset, good things happen," Haruguchi added. "We can not go out there and just play defense all the time. We have to be offensive and that was the message in the second set."

Now in the third set, it was Sac. St. who refocused and elevated its attack. The Hornets fired off 38 total attacks for 15 kills and hitting .184. Eastern was held to a .121 attack percentage in the set. Sac. St. went up 2-1 in the game after winning the third, 25-21.

Eastern looked to extend the game in the fourth set, taking an early 4-3 lead. The Hornets would retake the lead and continued to separate from the Eagles. Sac. St. had the momentum and stayed aggressive in the set. They would win 25-13 and earn a 3-1 victory over EWU. 

Eagle Notes

• Bri Gunderson recorded 9.0 total blocks, with two solo and seven assists against the Hornets. Eastern had 13.0 total blocks as a team, the second most this season. 
• Makenna Collins recorded a game-high 14 digs. She has 15 double-digit dig games this season.
• The game featured 22 ties and 10 lead changes. The second set saw eight ties and five lead changes. 

Up Next
Eastern Washington will take its road trip to Montana next week, playing Montana State on Oct. 12 and the Grizzlies on Oct. 14. 
 

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ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

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