Wilmington, N.C. – After struggling in the early going, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team found its rhythm, cruising past Fairfield, 3-1, Friday, Aug. 29, in the first of four matches as part of the Hilton Garden Inn Wilmington Mayfaire Classic.

Won-Loss Records
EWU opens its season at 1-0 for the first time since 2010 while Fairfield drops to 0-1 with the loss.

Turning Point
After hitting just .148 in the first set, the Eagles turned it on in the second frame, swinging at a .393 clip (14-3-28) en route to winning the set, 25-15, and evening the score at 1-1. From there, it was one-way traffic as EWU claimed the third and fourth sets with identical 25-21 scores to win the match.

Top Performers
Senior Kelsey Julian led all players with 12 kills on 24 attempts to go along with two blocks and two digs. She hit .333 for the match, racking up a match-high 14.0 points.

Junior Allie Schumacher swung at a .364 clip, putting away nine kills on 22 attempts. She added six digs and a pair of key solo blocks.

Junior Kellen Barfield added eight kills on 12 swings to go along with a pair of blocks.

Freshman Nicole Rigoni tallied 24 assists, six digs and a match-high three service aces in her first career collegiate match.

Junior Ryann Ensrud led the Eagles with 14 digs and added a pair of service aces.

Key Stats
Despite hitting just .184 in the opening set, Eastern finished the match with a .262 hitting percentage, including a .393 clip in the second frame and a .294 clip in the third set.

EWU recorded seven service aces to Fairfield's three and finished with seven total blocks.

Quoting Coach King
"I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure after the first set and redirecting our focus. Ana, Kelsey, Talia and Allie did a great job offensively and Kellen stepped up big with an MVP performance. I'm really proud of how the team has matured over the past few weeks." 

Game Notes
* Rigoni and junior Ana Jakovljevic recorded their first collegiate starts as both featured in the Eagles' starting rotation. Freshmen Megan LaFond, Chloe Weber and Ashlee Vaoifi also saw the first action of their respective collegiate careers.
* Eastern improved to 2-0 all-time against Fairfield and 6-0 all-time against progams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
* EWU is now 37-12 all-time in matches played in the Eastern Time Zone. 

Tweet of the Game

Up Next
Eastern returns to the court later today for a tilt with N.C. State at 2 p.m. PT.