Volleyball alumnae game

This archived article was written by: Kayla Newman

From St. George to Salt Lake, USU Eastern and College of Eastern Utah alumni came from all over Utah to compete against the current USUE women’s volleyball team on Monday Sept. 12. The team was highly anticipating this game, excited for the chance to play at home in front of a big crowd and excited to beat the alumni team.
All ages of alumni came out to compete against the team. There was alumni who played in the 1995 season all the way to alumni who had played with the team in 2015.
Some fan favorites on the alumni team were middle blocker, Stacy Mortenson; outside hitter, Miranda Milovich; and setter, McKenzie Burrows.
From Fremont, Utah, Burrows made the trip to play in the alumni game not long after graduating from USUE with her associate degree in Spring 2016. Playing in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, both volleyball and basketball, she was offered to continue playing volleyball after Price, but declined to continue her education at Weber State in nursing. She was happy to catch up with old coaches and teammates and get the chance to play volleyball again.
Milovich was thrilled to play in the alumni game against the women she coached the year before. After playing in the 2011 season, Milovich married and lives in Price with her two children. She was assistant coach to the USUE volleyball team for a couple seasons until she had her little girl this in November, 2016, and decided to take a break from coaching to be with her children. She still stays in good shape as she did when she played at USUE. Just three days before the alumni game, she ran her first half marathon in just over an hour, and was still ready to play hard against the team.
Mortenson wowed the crowd when she stepped into the alumni game in her jeans to play against the team she is coaching. This is Mortenson’s first year as assistant coach for the team, after playing both volleyball and basketball in the 1995-96 seasons. Like Milovich, she met her husband in Price and lives here with her husband and four sons.
The game had an incredible turn out from the community and from the students.