CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington volleyball team is prepping to head to Las Vegas, Nev. to open the 2017 season. The Eagles will be participating in the three-match, two-day UNLV Invitational on Friday and Saturday (Aug. 25-26). Invitational play begins on Friday at 12 p.m. PT against UC Davis, followed by a 5 p.m. matchup against Binghamton. Play concludes on Saturday with a 2 p.m. contests against the hosts, UNLV.
 
The Eagles are led by head coach Michael King, who is beginning his second full season at the helm of the program. EWU is coming off a 13-13 campaign that saw them reach the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the second-straight season after finishing 8-8 in league play. Eastern Washington brings back two starters in addition to nine newcomers as the team looks to make it to the tournament for three straight seasons.
 
"This weekend will allow us to see exactly where we're at, we'll be tested pretty well," said King. "We'll be working with a couple of different lineups because we haven't had one player yet that has stepped up way above and beyond, we have a lot of players and a lot of depth. This weekend will allow us to experiment and see what lineup is the best and who can produce when it's game time."
 
How to Watch:
Fans can follow all three matches via Twitter @EWUVB or the live stats for all three matches against UC Davis, Binghamton and UNLV. A video stream against the Rebels can be watched HERE.
 
All-Time Series
The Eagles face Binghamton for the first time in program history on Friday. In fact, Eastern has never played any teams out of the American East Conference. For just the second time, EWU faces UC Davis as they look to tie the all-time series, trailing 1-0. The Eagles play the Rebels for the fourth time as UNLV holds a slight 2-1 advantage.
 
Get to Know: UC Davis
UC Davis compiled an overall record of 14-15 a season ago and finished 7-9 in Big West play. They return Emily Allen, who led the team with 300 kills and collected 245 digs. Also returning is Lauren Matias who earned All-Big West Honorable Mention and received an All-Freshmen team nod after totaling 292 kills. The Aggies also have a relatively new roster as they bring in six freshmen.
 
Get to Know: Binghamton
Binghamton, out of Vestal, N.Y., was picked to finish third in the American East Preseason poll. The Bearcats return three all-conference selections from 2016. Seniors Sarah Ngo
and Kristella Morina along with junior Gaby Alicea were all named second-team all-league. Ngo lead the team with 881 assists and also posted 252 digs. Alicea paced the Bearcats with 227 kills while Morina added 159. In addition, Morina posted 81 blocks on the season. Gleen Kiriyama begins his 19^th season at the helm after being named American East Coach of the Year last season.
 
Get to Know: UNLV
The Rebels are coming off of an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and ended the season receiving votes in the AVCA poll. However, UNLV only returns two starters from their postseason run and they bring in 10 newcomers, including two transfers. Ashley Owens compiled 204 kills last season (1.79/set) along with Elsa Descamps who totaled 232 to average 1.98. They hit at a .267 and .310 clip, respectively.
 
The Preseason Poll
Following its second consecutive Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team was picked ninth in the 2017 BSC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Eagles picked up a total of 44 total points from the league coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own squad. Eastern was edged out by Weber State who was picked eighth with 49 points, but finished ahead of rivals Montana State (24), Montana (21) and Southern Utah (20). North Dakota was picked to defend their Big Sky title.

"I am not too caught up with the ranking. I believe at the end of the day the parity in this conference is high, anyone can beat anyone and you have to be prepared every night," said King. "Everyone is pretty good, it comes down to who is more consistent. I'm placing my attention on what we can control: the process and our goals and values that motivate and drive us and how those get transferred to action and interactions."

The Returners
The Eagles return two starters from a team that went 13-13 overall a year ago and qualified for the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season in seniors Chloe Weber and Ashley Seiler.
 
Weber, a middle blocker out of Gilbert, Ariz., started all 26 matches last season and compiled a team-leading 81 blocks, 13 of which were solo. She also hit at a .252 clip after totaling 157 kills (1.65/set).
 
As a junior, Seiler saw time in 23 of Eastern's 26 matches and made 17 starts. She compiled the third-most kills on the team with 202, averaging 2.83 per set. Her 223 digs (2.62/set) also ranked third. Seiler was also effective at the net as she recorded 25 blocks, seven solo. The Cheney, Wash., native recorded 18 service aces and 18 assists. She notched six double-doubles and had 10 or more digs in 12 matches, including 20 at Idaho.
 
In her first season for the Eagles, junior Regan Harr appeared in 24 matches and ranked second on the team 261 assists, averaging 3.11/set. She also averaged 2.12 digs per set after totaling 178. Harr, a transfer out of the College of Southern Idaho, garnered seven double-doubles at set a career high of 31 assists at Portland State.
 
Megan LaFond, who played in 66 sets year and compiled 37 total assists, also returns for her senior year along with Taylor Larsen who registered 87 kills on the year while hitting at a .240 clip. Larson contributed with 27 digs and 23 total blocks. Hannah Absalonson will return for the Eagles after seeing time in 13 matches last season.
 
The Newcomers
King hit the recruiting trail hard in preparation for his second full year at the helm as he brought in a total of nine fresh faces to the program. In addition to six true freshmen, three transfers are set to join the Eagles and make immediate impacts.
 
Catelyn Linke (Pasco, Wash.), Emma Dunn (Salt Lake City, Utah), Leanna Shymanski (Kennewick, Wash.), MaKenna Davis (Parker, Colo.), Jayde Robertsen (Tasawwassen, B.C.) and Letarona Mose (Long Beach, Calif.) all come to Eastern as true freshmen and have quickly learned to gel with the returners.
 
"Jayde has stuck out to me this camp, she's getting better and improving every day," said King. "Catelyn, one of our liberos, has been developing, getting better and making a lot of progress in a short period of time. Both Catelyn and Jayde have stood out as two good freshmen that are coming in and setting a new path and a new standard for us."
 
Kahle Elliott (Austin, Tex.) played one season at Seattle University where she saw time in 33 sets during her freshman campaign. Ashelyn Jones (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Alexandra Espinosa (Sunnyvale, Calif.) each come in and bring plenty of experience from the College of Southern Idaho. Espinosa totaled 367 kills and 359 digs in 2015, while Jones helped CSI to its 11th NJCAA National Championship while averaging 2.48 kills per game.
 
In addition to nine newcomers, King also added assistant coaches Diana Villalpando and Tyler Fenton to his staff during the offseason.
 
The Schedule
Eastern Washington is set to play in three nonconference tournaments, all on the road, before opening up a 16-match Big Sky slate. The Eagles open up conference play and the home portion of the schedule on Sept. 21 against Montana and Sept. 23 when they host Montana State.

All eight home volleyball matches are complimentary to the public as a part of the EWU Athletic Department's Eagsperience Eastern campaign.