CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington women's volleyball returns to the court this weekend for its first regular season games of the 2023 season. The Eagles travel to play in the CSU Bakersfield tournament from Aug. 25-26.

Eastern will play three games, starting with the host Roadrunners on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. In the evening, EWU will play former Big Sky foe, Southern Utah, at 5 p.m. The tournament in Bakersfield, Calif. Concludes on Saturday against Providence at 10 a.m.

The Eagles' game against CSUB will be streamed live on ESPN+. All three games will have live stats available through GoRoadrunners.com.

This fall will be head coach Jon Haruguchi's second season in Cheney, after going 6-10 in conference games and 11-18 overall in 2022. Eastern was 4-4 at Reese Court last season.

In the Big Sky's preseason coaches' poll, the Eagles were picked to finish eighth in the conference standings.

The 2023 Eastern squad fields six returners and nine newcomers.

Sage Brustad earned All-Big Sky second team honors last season after leading the team with 3.3 kills per set. Brustad was third in the conference with 0.39 service aces per set, recording 45 total in the season. The Richland, Wash. native was also second on the team with 2.21 digs per set. Her offensive and defensive production translated to five double-doubles in 2022. 

Makenna Collins returns for her second season as the team's starting libero. She led the Eagles with 3.26 digs a year ago, recording double-digit digs in 17 games.

Eastern also has Sadie Bacon returning after averaging 0.67 blocks per set last season to rank third on the team. Bacon led the team with a .394 hitting percentage on 557 total attacks, averaging 2.65 kills per set. The Snoqualmie, Wash. native was second on the team with 30 service aces. 

The group of returners also includes Tanai Jenkins, Morgan Blazzard and Alyssa Radke.

Haruguchi and his staff were busy in the offseason bringing in a deep group of new players to solidify the roster. The incoming group includes transfers Katie Hatch, Erin McInnes, Jannie Blake, Mackenna Thayne and Bri Gunderson. The Eagles also have four true freshmen including Sophia Lindemann, Kalista Lukovich, Elle Bruegman and Emberlyn Reynolds. 

In the team's only exhibition of the preseason, Eastern hosted Central Washington this past Tuesday (Aug. 22). The Eagles fell in the game, 3-2, but rallied to force a fifth set after dropping the first two sets.

Up Next
Eastern Washington hosts its own tournament next weekend (Sep. 1-2), with Pacific, Nevada and Seattle participating. EWU will play Seattle (12 p.m.) and Nevada (7 p.m.) on Friday, concluding with Pacific (1:30 p.m.) on Saturday.
 

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New for the 2023-24 season, the EWU Women's Sports Pass gives fans access to over 30 Eagle Athletics events, including volleyball, soccer and women's basketball for only $5 per game! Learn more and get yours today at goeags.com/tickets or call 509-359-6056.

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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