MISSOULA, Mont. -- The Eastern Washington University dropped a 3-0 (23-25, 24-26, 23-25) decision at the University of Montana in its final match of the season on Saturday (Nov. 11) night.

Seniors Ashley Seiler and Megan LaFond each ended their Eagle career on a high-note, as they shared the team lead in kills with 12 apiece. Tonight's match makes it the 22nd time this season that Seiler has led Eastern in kills, while LaFond, who opened the year as the team's libero but moved over to outside hitter in recent weeks, recorded a team-best 11 digs to end her EWU career with a double-double.

The 12 kills for Seiler also gave the Cheney, Washington native her fifth double-digit kill match over the last seven contests. She concludes the 2017 regular season as the Big Sky Conference's leader in kills per set with 3.98 kills.

It was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams throughout the whole match. In the first set, EWU and Montana were tied 18-18 to force the Grizzlies to take a timeout. Shortly after the break, Eastern took its first lead of the set of 20-19 thanks to an attack error by Montana. EWU took a late lead to 23-20 before Montana closed out the frame on a 5-0 scoring run to take the set by two.

Eastern Washington looked to pull even with UM in the second set, as they were serving for match point at 24-23 after a Catelyn Linke ace. The Grizzlies once again responded with an extended rally to close out the frame, as they scored the set's next three points to jump out to a 2-0 set lead in the match.

Neither team could find much separation in the night's third set, as they were deadlocked at 15-15 after 30 points. Montana scored three of the set's next four points from there to take a 19-16 lead. UM maintained its three-point advantage all the way to match point, where they held a 24-21 lead. Eastern Washington attempted to mount one last rally to keep the 2017 season going, as they tallied the next three points to pull within a point at 24-23 to force a Grizzlies timeout.

The break in the action halted the Eagle's momentum, as Montana took the next point to win the set 25-23 and take the match in straight sets.

Seiler and LaFond were two of the three seniors that played in their final match tonight. Classmate Chloe Weber also wrapped up her career on a high-note, as she landed seven kills on the night and hit .250.

Win-Loss Records: With the loss, EWU finishes the season at 7-18 and 4-12 in the Big Sky. Montana improves its record to 8-21 and 3-13 in the Big Sky in the finale. Montana improves its overall record against EWU to 40-36 for all-time.                  

Top Performers: Ashley Seiler and Megan LaFond both led the team with 12 kills. Shortly behind the two seniors was the other third senior Chloe Weber with seven. LaFond led the team defensively with 11 digs. Junior setter Regan Harr also recorded 10 digs to go along with 23 assists to post her 15th double-double on the year.

Key Stats: Despite sweeping the Eagles, the stats were not lopsided as Montana only had three more kills than EWU. Eastern also had five aces compared to the Grizzlies' four. 

For more information on the Eastern Washington volleyball team, follow @EWUVB on Twitter and Instagram, and be sure to follow EWU Volleyball on Facebook.