CHENEY, Wash. — At home for the weekend, Eastern Washington volleyball played host to Seattle U and Nevada on Friday afternoon at Reese Court. Eastern defeated the Redhawks, 3-1, in the afternoon before falling, 0-3, to the Wolfpack at night in its home tournament. The Eagles are now 2-3 on the season.
"We keep talking about our players being one-percent better. I thought this evening's game was tough. We had an opportunity to close out a couple of sets, but they slipped away from us," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "We're making progress right now and it's not always as quickly as you want it to be, but we are seeing progress and I'm happy about that."
Eagles vs. Redhawks
Eastern earned a 3-1 win in its first game of the day over Seattle U with a balanced scoring attack. The Eagles had five players with seven-plus kills, led by Sage Brustad's 21. Kalista Lukovich added 15 kills, with Bri Gunderson scoring nine, Sadie Bacon adding eight and Kate Hatch with seven.
After trailing by as much as seven in the set, Eastern surged back to tie the game at 20. The Redhawks jumped ahead by two, but the Eagles responded with three-straight points to take the lead, as Brustad delivered with a pair of kills. Seattle countered with four-straight to take the lead. They held on for the 26-24 win and a 1-0 lead in the game.
The second set was the opposite of the first as Eastern jumped out to a 16-9 lead. The Redhawks clawed back to tie the set up at 23. It was Brustad who came up clutch, delivering two kills to get the Eagles the set win, 25-23. The game was tied at one.
Eastern was on fire in the third set, hitting .429 and getting 14 kills. Lukovich and Brustad each had four kills in the set to drive the offensive effort. The Eagles won 25-19 and had a 2-1 advantage in the game.
Seattle opened the fourth set with a determined push, building a 12-5 lead over Eastern. EWU pulled the Redhawks back to tie the set at 17, with Lukovich and Gunderson providing the spark. Makenna Collins delivered with back-to-back service aces to give Eastern the lead at 19-17. The set would continue to stay tight, but Brustad and Bacon each swung for a kill to give the Eagles a 29-27 set win.
"The offense demonstrates Kate's [Hatch] familiarity and comfort level with our offense. She is really starting to develop a rhythm and flow with the more matches we play," Haruguchi added.
Brustad tallied her third double-double of the season with 14 digs. Lukovich earned her first career double-double after finishing with 13 digs. Hatch recorded her second-straight with 44 assists and 16 digs.
Eagles vs. Wolfpack
In the second game of the day for Eastern, the team fell to Nevada, 3-0. Sadie Bacon led the team with nine kills and Kalista Lukovich had 18 digs. The Eagles finished with 10 service aces and six errors, led by Sage Brustad with three aces.
Nevada won the first set, 25-19, hitting .243 as a team. Brustad had three kills, but the Eagles struggled hitting .086.
Moving to the second set, Eastern looked to even the game up, but Nevada had the lead, 15-10 at the midway point. The Eagles would tie the game at 17 with kills from Brustad and Erin McInnes. EWU stayed in front, leading 23-20 with Bri Gunderson and Lukovich providing the offense. The Wolfpack then organized a 7-2 run that gave them a 27-25 win in the second set and a 2-0 lead in the game.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair, with 10 ties and two lead changes. Eastern went ahead 17-13 on two aces from Makenna Collins. The Wolfpack did not fade and would tie the set at 18. Nevada then went ahead, 21-20, and would continue to score for a 25-23 win in the final set.
Up Next
Eastern Washington plays the final game of the EWU Tournament tomorrow (Sept. 2) against Pacific at 1:30 p.m.
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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