Jacks Grind Out Four Set Win Over Eastern Washington

SPOKANE, WA -- The South Dakota State volleyball team made it 2-for-2 at the Gonzaga Tournament on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 win over Eastern Washington in the first of two matches of the day for the Jackrabbits.

SDSU improves to 4-2 on the season by the set scores of 25-20, 25-23, 19-25 and 25-13. The Eagles fall to 0-6 with the loss.

"This was a tough match for us mentally coming off our win last night against Gonzaga," head coach Phil McDaniel said. "Eastern Washington came out determined, and we were not able to match their intensity. Once we settled down though, we were better able to control the pace of the match and take advantage of some key matchups."

Eight different Jackrabbits recorded at least two kills in the match, but only Kelly Fiegen reached double-digits, finishing with 11 kills to go with four block assists and a solo block. Bailey Philippot added nine kills and Kaitlin Klingemann eight kills to go with her match-high five block assists.

As usual, Shay Birath paced the Jackrabbit defense with 14 digs. Margit Hansing finished with 10 digs, with eight kills.

Cora Kellerman led a trio of Eagles with double-digit kills with 17, Talia Fermantez added 16 and Shelby Puckett 12 kills in the loss. Kellerman added 13 digs and Puckett 14 for the match's only double-double. Ryann Ensrud led the Eags with 25 digs.

The Jackrabbits look to make it a clean sweep at the Gonzaga Tournament on Saturday night, when they take on UC Riverside at 4 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT.

Courtesy:  South Dakota State University