On the eve of the Big Sky Tournament, Eastern Washington Volleyball The Wise Breastad and Alyssa Radke have been named to the second All-Big Sky team selection announced today (November 22) at the conference. The second team selection is the first postseason honors for Brustad and Radke.
Breastad is an all-rounder for the Eagles, leading the team with 3.33 kills per set at a 0.175 batting average. The junior leads the team with 42 aces at serve, averaging .40 per set. On defense, Brustad is second on the team with 2.17 digs per set. She adds .42 blocks per set, with 40 block assists and four solos. The Richland, Washington native has five double-doubles this season.
In the conference rankings, Brustad is fourth in kills and third in aces. Breast ad is also third with 3.95 points per set.
That season, Brustad set career highs with 22 kills against South Dakota State (9/2) and 17 digs against Montana State (11/28). Breastad would later in the season have her high-kill career against Arkansas State (9/16). She has three games with 20 or more kills this season. In Eastern’s second game against South Dakota St., Brustad hit six service aces, the most shared by a player in the 2022 season at Big Sky.
Eastern is third in the conference with 1.62 aces per set, 172 total.
Radke has stepped into the role of Eastern’s power hitter this season, ranking second on the team with 2.92 kills per set and a .209 attack percentage. The sophomore excelled in conference games and led the team with 3.20 kills per set. Radke has also slipped into the role of net defense for the Eagles, posting a total of 82 blocks with 11 solos and 71 assists. She averages 0.77 blocks per set, the second-best average on the team.
Radke in 10th placeth in the Big Sky in total kills this season and is ninth in conference play.
Radke set a career high with 24 kills against Northern Arizona (10/20) while hitting .280. The 24 kills are the fifth most recorded by a game at Big Sky this season. She also pulled in 20 kills against Montana (10/27) with an attack percentage of .261. Against Northern Colorado (11/18) last week, Radke set a new career high with a total of seven blocks and carried the load with four solos and three assists.
Northern Colorado setter Syd Cole was named Big Sky MVP, while Montana head coach Allison Lawrence was named Coach of the Year. UNC’s Michaela Boon and Portland State’s Ellie Snook shared Libero of the Year. Best Newcomer was Vikings Madison Friebel and Outstanding Freshman Award went to Idaho’s Emrie Stauala.
Eastern Washington will open their third straight Big Sky conference tournament tomorrow (November 23) as a seventh. They will play the two seeds, Portland State, at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time.