VIENNA — The Vienna Lady Eagles traveled to Eugene last week for the Eugene Tournament looking to turn their season around after opening the year with an 0–2 record. By the time the tournament wrapped up, Vienna had done just that, pulling out two wins in three games to move their record to 2–3 overall. The Lady Eagles are now set to travel to Dixon, and will host Laquey and Chamois this week as they continue their regular-season schedule.

Vienna opened the tournament against a tough Russellville squad in a non-conference matchup, falling to the Lady Indians for the second time this season. Russellville entered the game as one of the top teams in the area, sitting at 5–1 on the year. While the loss dropped Vienna to 0–3 at the time, it also seemed to spark a turnaround for the Lady Eagles.

With something to prove, Vienna came out in their second game and played with a flurry of energy, overwhelming Macks Creek in a dominant 63–13 victory. The momentum carried over into the final game of the tournament where the Lady Eagles defeated host Eugene, 59–54 in a contest that came down to the wire.

The tournament schedule was adjusted after weather forced Monday’s games to be postponed and moved to Tuesday. Vienna captain Aubrey Schwartze said the unexpected day off was a mixed blessing going into tournament play.

“The day off helped and then it didn’t,” Schwartze said. “I feel rested and ready to go for the tournament, but at the same time, I haven’t touched a basketball in two days.”

Schwartze led Vienna throughout the tournament, finishing with 18 points in the win over Macks Creek and 24 points in the victory over Eugene. Hollis followed with 20 points against Macks Creek and added 14 more against Eugene. Curtis finished with seven points in the second game but was held scoreless in the finale. Weeks added five points in game two and broke out for 15 in the win over Eugene. Heddy scored one point against Macks Creek and did not score in the final game. Macie Rowden scored two points in both the second and third games. Liberty Rowden added six points in the blowout win over Macks Creek. Gorman finished with two points in game two and four in game three. Delaney Schwartze scored two points in the second game and was held scoreless in the tournament finale. Individual scoring totals from the Russellville game were unavailable at the time of publication.

With two strong wins to close out the Eugene Tournament, Vienna showed clear signs of growth and confidence heading into the next stretch of the season. With that, the Lady Eagles also had something else to celebrate, junior guard Hollis had a birthday this week. Coach KC Curler commented that even though it’s her birthday week, Hollis will have to earn each and every minute on the court.

The Lady Eagles will hit the road this week with a trip to Dixon as they look to build off their momentum.