MISSOULA, Mont. -- The Eastern Washington University volleyball team opens Big Sky Conference action this week with a pair of matches against the conference's two Montana teams, as the Eagles will battle the Grizzlies this Thursday, Sept. 22, before taking on the Bobcats for a Saturday, Sept. 24, evening affair.

The Eagles are coming off a much deserved bye week, after opening the year by playing three matches in two days for three-straight weekends. Eastern brings a 5-4 record in Big Sky play after going 2-1 at its last tournament in Wyoming back on Sept. 9 and 10. The Eagles come into this week on a bit of a roll, as they have won four of their last six matches.

All-Time Series

Montana: The Griz hold a 39-33 advantage in an all-time series that dates back to 1982. Montana has won each of the last three meetings against the Eagles, while Eastern is currently 1-3 all-time against the Grizzlies under head coach Michael King. EWU is 12-23 all-time in Missoula.

Montana State: Eastern completed a sweep of Montana State last season to push its all-time record in the series to 50-20. The Eagles are 19-14 all-time in Bozeman, and have posted a 3-1 mark in matches against the Bobcats coached by King.

Big Sky Openers
Eastern Washington is 16-12 all-time in Big Sky openers. The Eagles will be seeking their second-straight conference opening win, as they defeated North Dakota in straight sets last season at Reese Court. EWU has faced Montana a total of six times in the Big Sky conference-opening game, with both teams winning three matches each over those six contests.

All-time, EWU is 17-17 in conference openers, they were a member of the Mountain West Conference from 1982-87, where they went 1-5 in those openers. Eastern is also 7-12 all-time in conference opening matches away from Cheney.

Back To Normal
Like most college volleyball teams, Eastern Washington opened its season with three-straight weekend tournaments. The Eagles had to play three matches in a span of two days, which resulted in playing two games on each Saturday of the tournament. The Eagles went 5-4 over that stretch and will have more of a regular schedule, as they will now play one match per day entering the Big Sky portion of its schedule.

Conference Rankings
Individually, Eastern has two players ranked inside the Top 10 of the Big Sky in assists and digs. Senior Sophie Miller is currently ninth in the conference with an 8.32 assists-per-set mark, while redshirt sophomore Ashlee Vaoifi is 10th in digs-per-set with a 3.72 average.

The Development Continues
Sophomore Ka'iulani Ahuna has grown into a valuable weapon early in the 2016 season for Eastern, as she had collected a total of 67 kills and 50 digs over her last six matches. She followed her breakthrough performance at the Grand Canyon University Tournament, with another strong effort at the UniWyo Invite, as she posted a total of 35 kills and 22 digs to earn all-tournament honors.

The highlight of Ahuna's weekend in Wyoming came against Samford, as she recorded her second double-double of the year, and of her career, with 14 kills and 14 digs in a thrilling come-from-behind five set win over the Bulldogs on Sept. 10.

She Does a Bit of Everything
There may not be a more versatile player on Eastern's roster then Sophie Miller. The senior has successfully transitioned back into the setter's role for EWU after spending all of last season as a right side hitter. A year in a primary attack role has only enhanced Miller's game this season, as she is tied for fifth on the team in kills with 36.

In her last match at the UniWyo Invite, she collected four kills, six digs and handed out 23 assists against the host Cowgirls. She also posted her second 40-plus-assist-match of 2016 in Wyoming, as she handed out a career-best 45 assists against Samford to help her earn all-tournament honors.

Knowing Your Opponent – Montana
The Grizzlies enter Big Sky play with a 3-7 record, yet are coming off one of their better weekends of the season, as they went 2-1 in the Morehead State Tournament at Morehead, Kentucky last Friday and Saturday. Montana dropped its first match of the weekend to Kent State in straight sets on Friday afternoon, but rebounded and recorded victories over Coppin State and the host Eagles on Saturday.

Offensively, Montana is hitting .114 as a team, led by sophomore Alexis Urbach's .190 hitting percentage. The team averages 9.88 kills-per-set and freshman Missy Huddleston leads the Griz in kills with 74, 16 more than Urbach's second-best total of 58. Huddleston posted two double-digit kill matches at the Morehead State Tournament, recording 11 against both Kent State and Morehead State.

Defensively, teams are hitting .270 against the Griz, while they are allowing 11.94 kills-per-set to the opposition. Redshirt senior Sadie Ahearn leads the team in digs with 104, as she averages 3.03 digs-per-set. Blocking has been a struggle for Montana this season, as they've been outperformance in that category, 70-42, on the year.

Knowing Your Opponent – Montana State
Montana State opens its Big Sky portion of the schedule with a 2-7 record overall. The Bobcats recently went 0-3 at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln, Nebraska last weekend. MSU fell in straight sets in each match, as they lost to top-ranked Nebraska, Creighton (RV) and Gonzaga.

Sophomore Natalie Passeck leads the team offensively, as she has tallied a team-best 80 kills through nine matches. Passeck is averaging 2.50 kills-per-set and is hitting .224 on the year. As a team, the Bobcats are hitting .123 as a team.

Teams are hitting .280 against Montana State this season, as they are averaging 12.91 digs-per-set. Freshman Allyssa Rizzo leads the team in digs with 142. Her 4.44 digs-per-set average is the third-best in the Big Sky.

For more information on the Eastern Washington volleyball team, follow @EWUVolleyball on Twitter, or like EWU Volleyball on Facebook.