Cheney, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's volleyball was clicking on all cylinders Thursday, Oct. 16, cruising past visiting Montana State in straight sets in a Big Sky Conference match at Reese Court.

Won-Loss Records
Eastern improves to 7-13 overall and 3-4 in conference play with the win while Montana State falls to 1-6 in Big Sky matches and 4-15 overall. Set scores for the match were: 25-9, 25-23, 25-18.

Turning Point
The Eagles started the match on a mission, opening up a quick 6-1 lead, punctuated by a kill from junior Allie Schumacher that prompted the Bobcats to call an early timeout. The short break did nothing to stop EWU's momentum as it extended its margin to 10 points, 13-3, before the visitors were forced to take their second timeout.

Eastern's lead would continue to grow as MSU had no answer for the Eagles' near-perfect execution. A kill from junior Kellen Barfield put the exclamation point on a stellar opening frame that saw EWU hit .600 as a team, committing just one attack error.

Montana State put up a fight in the second set, erasing a six point deficit to pull to within one, 24-23, late in the frame, but sophomore Sophie Miller put away a pass from junior Milica Nisavic to spot Eastern a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

EWU left no doubt about who the better team was in the third and final set, opening up a 20-12 lead before cruising the rest of the way.

Top Performers
In what can only be described as a true team effort, no Eastern player recorded more than nine kills on the night behind the incredible distribution of Miller and Nisavic.

Senior Melissa Waelter led the Eagles with nine kills while Schumacher added eight kills on 17 swings, hitting .471 for the match.

Barfield and senior Kelsey Julian chipped in six kills apiece with Barfield's production coming on just 10 error-free swings.

Both Miller and Nisavic tallied 15 assists, respectively, while Miller narrowly missed out on a double-double, finishing with a team-high nine digs to go along with five kills and four blocks.

Nisavic was deadly from the service line, recording a match-best three service aces.

Senior Talia Fermantez led a dominant defensive performance at the net for Eastern, registering seven blocks. Julian and Barfield both came up with five blocks apiece.

Key Statistics
EWU hit a season-high .341 for the match, committing just 10 errors on 82 swings. Montana State was limited to a .110 clip on the night as Eastern's defensive execution carried the day.

The Eagles notched six service aces to the Bobcats' two and registered 13 team blocks to the visitors' three.

Quoting Coach King
"We executed well throughout the entire match. I'm very proud of how we performed from the service line and our blocking has improved from the start of the year. Defensively, we made great plays at the net and in the back row. I really felt that our team played with pride tonight. Their energy reminded me of how we started off the season on the East Coast, where we had success. I am proud of this group who fought from start to finish tonight."

Match Notes
* EWU improves to 47-18 all-time against Montana State and 28-5 all-time versus the Bobcats in Reese Court.

* Eastern picked up its first home win of the 2014 season, and its first three-set victory of the year. The Eagles also won the first two sets of a match for the first time this season.

* EWU's .341 hitting percentage tops the previous high mark of .331 which came against Northern Colorado back on Sept. 27.

* The Eagles limited Montana State to just nine points in the opening set, the first time EWU has held an opponent to single-digit points in a frame since Oct. 23, 2009.

* Fermantez's six block assists moved her into sixth all-time in program history with 278 career assisted stops.

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Video Highlights

Up Next
Eastern has a short turnaround as Montana visits Reese Court tomorrow, Oct. 17, for a Big Sky counter. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and fans that bring their military ID's will be given special $2 admission.