CHENEY, Wash. -- Senior Sophie Miller and sophomore Ka'iulani Ahuna each picked up a double-double on Thursday, Sept. 29, evening, but that would not be enough to lift the Eastern Washington University volleyball team to victory in its 2016 home opener, as they fell 3-1 (21-25, 18-25, 25-18, 16-25) to Northern Colorado in Big Sky Conference action.

Ahuna's and Miller's double-doubles marks the second time this season that Eastern has had two players accomplish the feat in the same match. The sophomore paced the Eagles offense throughout the night, as she landed 14 kills, while adding 10 digs, to earn her third double-double of the year. The setter Miller handed out a team-best 23 assists on the night, and added a season-best 11 digs, to pick up her first double-double of 2016.

Junior Chloe Weber also matched her career-best in kills on Thursday, as the Gilbert, Arizona native registered 10 kills while hitting a team-best .444 (10-2-18) against Northern Colorado.

The Eastern Washington defense put together another strong performance by picking up 56 digs in the loss, but however they were outperformed in that category by the Bears, who tallied 62 digs as a team. It is just the third time this season that Eastern has been out-dug in a match. The Eagles had three players record double-digit digs, as junior Ashley Seiler joined Ahuna and Miller in the category with 11 digs of her own.

UNC hit .232 on the night and was led by Kortney Lockey's .361 effort. Lockey also collected a team-best 14 kills.

"Credit Northern Colorado for serving really well tonight," said head coach Michael King. "We had some really nice moments tonight, but could never sustain those runs, as we made too many unforced errors. It's time to hit the reset button and focus on tomorrow night."

Win-Loss: Eastern drops to 7-5 on the year, while they move to 2-1 in Big Sky play. Meanwhile for Northern Colorado, the move above the .500 mark on the year by improving to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

What it Means: Eastern Washington was unable to defend its home court in its season-opener, however, the Eagles maintain tie for first place in the Big Sky North Division, as both EWU and Northern Colorado now sit atop the conference standings at 2-1. There were still Big Sky matches yet to have gone final at the time of this release, however, regardless of those results, Eastern will maintain at least a first-place tie heading into tomorrow's match against North Dakota.

Top Performers: Sophomore Ka'iulani Ahuna picked up her third career double-double on Thursday night with 14 kills and 10 digs. Ahuna has now recorded double-digit digs in five of her last seven matches.

Senior Sophie Miller earned her first double-double of the year with a 23-assist, 11-dig outing against UNC. The 11 digs is a season-best for the setter, while her 23 assists extends her double-digit assist streak to 12 matches.

Junior Chloe Weber matched a career-best in kills against the Bears with 10. The middle blocker previously reached that mark back on Sept. 10 in a five-set against Samford and the UniWyo Invite.

Key Stats: Eastern Washington held a 6-3 advantage over Northern Colorado in total blocks. The Eagles picked up 10 block assists, led by redshirt sophomore Kimberly Brinkworth, who earned three block assists on the night.

What's Next: It's going to be a quick turnaround for the Eagles, as they are back in action tomorrow, Sept. 30, for a 6 p.m. match against North Dakota at Reese Court.

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