USU Eastern Volleyball Ends Regular Season Ranked 4th Nationally

The Utah State University Eastern volleyball team is ranked fourth in the nation in this week’s NJCAA Division I Volleyball Poll, as released Monday, March 29. It is the fifth consecutive week the Eagles have been ranked fourth in the NJCAA USU Eastern has been nationally ranked in all 11 polls this season, ranking as high as second in the nation.

The Eagles finished the regular season with a flourish, sweeping Colorado Northwestern on Friday to finish the regular season with a 22-4 record, including an undefeated home season, winning all five of their home matches. The Eagles finished the regular season with an 8-2 record in the Scenic West Athletic Conference, finishing the season in second place in the standings.

The top 10 rankings remained the same this week, with undefeated Miami Dade College ranking first, followed by Odessa College and then SWAC regular season champion Snow College ranked third. There were three members of the SWAC ranked in the top 20 in this week’s poll.

The 2020-21 season brought with it tremendous success for the Eagles, who finished with a team-record 22 wins. The Eagles played an extremely difficult schedule, playing 14 matches against teams in the national rankings, going 10-4 in those matches. Two of those wins came against Snow College, who is the No. 1 seed in the SWAC Tournament, which will be played starting Friday.

USU Eastern averaged 12.3 kills and 11.7 assists per set during the season, led in kills by outside hitter Kamryn Wiese and in assists by setter Camber Dodson. Wiese ranked 20th in the nation in kills this season, while Dodson ranked 15th in the nation in assists. Libero Emma Ricks ranked first in the nation with 616 digs, recording 100 more digs than any other player this season.

The Eagles are the second seed in the SWAC Region 18 Tournament, which will begin Friday. The Eagles received a first round bye in the tournament and will face No. 14 Salt Lake Community College on Friday at 4 p.m. in the regional semifinal match. The teams split the regular season series, with the home team winning each match. USU Eastern won their home match in a sweep on Mar. 17.

The winner will go on to play in the championship match on Saturday. All matches will be played in the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield on the campus of Snow College. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid into the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament, which will be played beginning April 15 in West Plains, Mo.

2020-21 NJCAA DI Volleyball Top-20 Poll – Week 10