CHENEY, Wash. -- The Eastern Washington University volleyball team battled back from a 2-1 deficit to score a thrilling 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 15-9) victory over Weber State on Dig Deep of Pink Night at Reese Court.
The Eagles were faced with a 2-1 deficit going into the fourth set, but they were able to fight back and vend off the Wildcats, as the team hit .346 in the final two frames to score a pair of victories and complete the five-set comeback. Eastern continued to display an improved offensive attack of late, as the Eagles hit .211 on the night to post their third plus-.200 hitting percentage in their last six matches.
Sophomore Ka'iulani Ahuna paced the EWU offense throughout the evening, as the Hawaiian native set a new career-high in kills with 19, while she also hit a match-best .326. Ahuna was one dig away from her ninth double-double of the season, as she tallied nine digs.
Junior Ashley Seiler continued her impressive play of late, as she collected her sixth double-digit kill match over the last eight contests, with 17 kills. The Cheney, Washington native also tallied 18 digs to pick up her sixth double-double of the year. Sophomore Jessica Gilbert returned to the double-digit kill category on Thursday with 11.
Eastern Washington's defense once again was top-notch, as they outperformed the fourth-best blocking team in NCAA Division I, 14-10. Junior Chloe Weber led the charge, as she tallied 5.5 blocks on the evening. Weber's performance helped limit the WSU offensive to a .201 hitting percentage.
"There were some sets tonight that we played well, and some we didn't," said head coach Michael King. "When you go a full five sets, the only thing that matters is playing well in that decisive fifth set. We took it to another level in the final two sets of the night and I thought we served a lot better as the night progressed. Doing that really allowed us to get into a rhythm. Our fans really helped push us to a victory tonight. They were into the match the entire way. We had the band here, so that added some more atmosphere, which was great. I want to give a big thanks to Eag Nation for helping us get this win tonight."
Win-Loss Records: Tonight's win gives Eastern a 6-5 record through 11 Big Sky Conference games, while they are now 11-9 overall on the year. For Weber State, they fall to 4-7 in Big Sky play and 13-7 overall.
What It Means: Tonight's win extends Eastern winning streak at Reese Court to three matches. Coming into tonight, Eastern had picked up back-to-back wins against Northern Arizona (Oct. 6) and Southern Utah (Oct. 8) in its last two matches at Reese.
Turning Point: Facing a 2-1 deficit in the match, Eastern opened up the fourth set on a 7-3 run. That spurt would be the beginning of the comeback, as the Eagles hit .346 in the final two frames to complete a five-set comeback.
Key Stats: Weber State, who entered tonight's match as the fourth-best blocking team, was outperformed by Eastern in that category, 14-10. Junior Chloe Weber led the way for Eastern with 5.5 blocks, while sophomore Jessica Gilbert had three total.
Top Performers: Sophomore Ka'iulani Ahuna collected a career-best 19 kills, while hitting .326 in the win over Weber State.
Setters Sophie Miller and Regan Harr each handed out 25 assists on the evening. Harr added 13 digs to pick up her fourth double-double over the last five matches.
Junior Chloe Weber turned in a fabulous performance on Thursday, as she collected six kills and 5.5 blocks, while hitting .214 on the night.
Junior Megan LaFond led the team in digs with 21 to earn her fourth-straight double-digit dig match.
Notables: Eastern moves to 43-30 in the all-time series against Weber State. The Eagles have now won five-straight matches over the Wildcats.
EWU's winning streak at Reese is extended to three matches after tonight's victory. The wins have all come the South Division of the Big Sky, as Eastern knocked off Northern Arizona and Southern Utah back on Oct. 6 and 8, respectively.
Eastern moves to 4-1 on the year in five set matches with tonight's win.
Tonight's match was the final contest against the South Division for Eastern. They went an even 3-3 against teams from that division this season.
The 14 blocks Eastern picked up tonight are the second most this season for the team. The most came just a week ago in Portland, as the Eagles collected 18 blocks against the Vikings.
What's Next: It will be a quick turnaround for the Eagles, as they will be back in action tomorrow night to host the Idaho Vandals. First serve from Reese Court is set for 7 p.m. PT.
For more information on the Eastern Washington volleyball team, follow @EWUVolleyball on Twitter or like EWU Volleyball on Facebook.
