MISSOULA, Mont. -- The Eastern Washington University volleyball team continued its hot streak of late on Thursday, Sept. 22, as the Eagles posted their fourth win over the last five matches with a 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-13, 25-11) victory at Montana to open Big Sky play.
Eastern had its best offensive performance in six matches, as they hit .250 in the four-set victory. It marked the first time since the Grand Canyon match on Sept. 3 that the Eagles hit above .200 as a team. Junior Chloe Weber and sophomore Jessica Gilbert each had an efficient night, as Weber hit a team-best .438 (8-1-16), while the sophomore hit above .350 for the sixth time this season with a .360 (11-2-25) performance.
The Eagles went into the locker room tied with the Griz at 1-1 after hitting just .082 as a team through the match's first two set. EWU would come out of the locker room looking like a different offensive bunch, as they hit over .475 in the next two frames to score to a pair of double-digit victories and win the match 3-1. Eastern was particularly precise in the decisive fourth set, as they hit a match-best .545 to take the frame 25-11.
Eastern Washington also had its best night of the season from the service area, as the Eagles landed a season-best eight serves against the Griz.
"I thought we served really well tonight," said head coach Michael King. "Our passing came alive in the last two sets, which really allowed us to get into an offensive rhythm. Sophie did a nice job of running the offense and getting our attackers great looks at the ball."
Win-Loss Record: Eastern Washington improves to 6-4 on the year, while moving to 1-0 in Big Sky play. For Montana, they drop to 3-8 and 0-1 in league play.
What It Means: The Eagles move to 17-12 all-time in Big Sky Conference openers, and 18-17 all-time in conference-opening matches at the NCAA Division I level. It is the second-straight season EWU has won its conference-opening match, as the Eagles knocked off North Dakota in straight sets at Reese Court in the 2015 opener.
Top Performers: Freshman Katie Mahoney recorded her fourth double-digit kill match of her collegiate career, as she paced the team with 12 kills.
Sophomore Jessica Gilbert hit .360 on the night and was one of two Eagles to finish with double-digits in kills, as she landed 11 of her swings.
Senior Sophie Miller posted her second 40-assist match over the last three contest by handing out an even 40 assists against Montana. She also finished the night with eight digs.
Redshirt sophomore Ashlee Vaoifi posted her second 20-plus-dig match of the season with 21 digs, just one shy of her career-best, against the Grizzlies.
Key Stats: The Eagles once again rode its defense to victory, and tonight might have been one of the best collective efforts of the season for the unit. EWU outperformed Montana in every defensive category, as they out-dug the Griz, 55-45, out-blocked them, 8-3, and held UM to a .054 hitting percentage on the night.
Notables: Tonight's win snaps a three-match winning streak for Montana against the Eagles. Eastern Washington also moves closer to the Griz in the all-time series, as they trail UM now, 39-34.
Eastern Washington has now won four of its five last matches to push its record back to a season-best two games over .500 at 6-4.
Tonight's victory was just the 13th win all-time for Eastern Washington in Missoula. They also improve to 2-3 against the Griz in matches coached by Michael King.
Tweet of the Match:
What's Next: The Eagles will conclude its season-opening 11-match road trip this Saturday, Sept. 24, when they wrap up their two-match stay in the Big Sky State with a 6:30 p.m. PST contest at Montana State. The Bobcats fell to Idaho in four sets tonight.
For more information on the Eastern Washington volleyball team, follow @EWUVolleyball on Twitter or like EWU Volleyball on Facebook.
