CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team returned home for the first time in two weeks to host Idaho State in a Big Sky Conference battle Thursday evening (Oct. 12). After dropping the first two sets, the Eagles claimed the third but couldn't come back, resulting in a 3-1 loss (14-25, 23-25, 25-22, 21-25).
 
"I thought we came out a little flat today and were playing two-or-three points behind for what seemed like the entire match, and when you do that you feel the weight of that," said head coach Mike King.
 
The Eagles struggled to find momentum in the first set, as they only hit .030 as a team compared to the Bengals' .273 clip and fell 25-14.
 
In the second set, ISU jumped out to a 5-0 lead to force an early Eastern Washington timeout. The Eagles were able to come back and tie the set up, 8-8 and eventually led 14-12. With the set tied 19-19, both sides continued to trade points until Idaho State led 24-21. Back-to-back kills from Ashley Seiler kept the Eagles alive, but it wasn't enough as they fell 25-23.
 
After the break, the Bengals led 7-1 in the third set. Eastern was able to cut their deficit to 11-10, forcing ISU to call a timeout. Eastern then exploded on a 6-0 run to lead by four, and later another 3-0 run to lead 19-14. Both sides would go point-for-point, but the Bengals were not able to catch the Eagles as EWU stayed alive after a 25-22 set three victory.
 
Neither team could break away in the fourth set as they found themselves tied 12-12 midway through. Trailing 19-16, Eastern fired off three straight points to even the match again. However, with the set tied 21-21, the Bengals went on a 4-0 run to seal the 25-21 set four victory and the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, Eastern drops to 6-10 on the season and 3-4 in conference play. Idaho State won their fourth-straight match to improve to 7-13 overall and 4-3 in league play. This marks the seventh straight match the Eagles have dropped to the Bengals.
 
TOP PERFORMERS: Ashley Seiler led all players with 18 kills, followed by Jayde Robertsen who had 10. Seiler also led the team with two aces. Robertsen and Chloe Weber paced Eastern with four blocks. Regan Harr dished out 29 assists, while Megan LaFond had 22 digs.
 
NOTEABLES: This marked the 15th match that Ashley Seiler has led the team in kills, this time with 18. It is also her 15^th match with kills into the double digits.
 
Regan Harr improves her double-double streak to eight straight matches, this time with 29 assists and 18 digs. She now had 10 on the season and 16 in her career.
 
As a team, the Eagles tied their season high with eight blocks.
MaKenna Davis had a career high six kills to go along with a team-leading .357 hitting percentage (6k-1e-14ta).
 
MORE FROM COACH KING: "I was really impressed with Ashley's play tonight. She had 18 kills and hit .235, which is good to see. I was pleased with freshman Makenna Davis, who came off the bench, played well on the outside and hit .357 on the night. Another freshman Jayde Robertsen had a strong effort again tonight with double-digit kills. As a team, we are playing three-or-four true freshman, so while I'm not satisfied with where we are overall, I'm happy with the progress this team has taken."
 
NEXT UP: Eastern Washington will now turn their focus to first-place Idaho, as the team travels to Moscow for a Saturday night matchup (Oct. 14). First serve is set for 7 p.m.