CHENEY, Wash. — When a team is in a groove, it's tough to stop them, especially at home. Eastern Washington women's volleyball showed that on Thursday night, sweeping Gonzaga in front of the Eagle fans. Eastern improves to 5-5 on the season and has won three of its last four games.
Three Eagles posted double-digit kills, led by Sage Brustad's 15. Kalista Lukovich finished with 13 on .319 hitting and Bri Gunderson was an example of efficiency with 10 kills and a .529 percentage.
"It was a fun game and a great environment. It was great to be back in front of our home fans," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "We knew we needed to take care of business from behind the service line. That's what sparked [the first-set] run that gave us momentum."
Eastern improved its play as the game went on. The team trailed 19-24 in the first set before ripping off a 7-0 run to steal the lead from the Bulldogs. With Sadie Bacon serving, the Eagles pulled off the comeback with Brustad getting two kills and one block.
The first-set rally sparked the Eastern offense in the second and they dropped in 19 kills while hitting .390. Lukovich was a force, accounting for 10 of the team's kills in the set and hitting .588. The Eagles had a 2-0 lead in the game following a 25-22 win in the second set.
Sensing the momentum, Eastern cruised in the third set with a .357 attack percentage. Brustad and Bacon each scored five kills on the way to a 25-17 set win, completing the sweep of Gonzaga.
"I'm sure [Gonzaga] are going to make some adjustments for Saturday. We're going to need to make a few adjustments ourselves," Haruguchi added. "I thought our passing was excellent. We have to pick up some of those short serves that they started exploiting us on. It's good, for us, to play them again so you can see how you can make those adjustments."
Eagle Notes
- Eastern Washington snapped a three-game losing streak against Gonzaga, winning for the first time since Oct. 6, 2009 in Cheney.
- Sage Brustad earned her seventh double-double of the season, recording 10 digs.
- Kalista Lukovich now has three double-doubles in her young career after finishing with 14 digs.
- Kate Hatch tallied 40 assists on Thursday. It is her fourth, 40-assist game this season.
- The Eagles had four aces and three errors at the service line.
- Makenna Collins accounted for 15 digs and has double-digit digs in eight of 10 games this season.
- Bri Gunderson earned her second double-digit kill game of the season.
Up Next
Eastern Washington will play San Diego State and a second game against Gonzaga on Saturday (Sept. 16) in Spokane, Wash. The Bulldogs will host the one-day tournament, with Eastern's games taking place at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
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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