BERKELEY, Calif. – Only dropping the final two sets by a combined six points, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team opened the Cal Classic with a 3-0 loss to Texas Tech on Friday (Sept. 1). The Eagles fell 25-14 in the first set before being edged out 25-22 in both the second and third sets. With the loss, Eastern drops to 1-3 on the season while the Red Raiders improve to 3-0.
"We played well at moments, but not long enough throughout the match," said head coach Michael King. "Even though we didn't get the outcome we wanted, the team can see and feel the improvements we have made and that's a huge positive."
Eastern kept it close in the first set throughout the first exchanges of points. With the set tied 4-4, Texas Tech pulled ahead with five straight points to force an EWU timeout as they trailed 9-4. Ashley Seiler came through with a kill followed by a service ace from Megan LaFond, but the Red Raiders pulled ahead and led 17-8. Facing set point, the Eagles sounded off a trio of three points led by a kill from Taylor Larsen, but TTU held on to win 25-14.
The Eagles jumped out to an early 8-5 lead in the second set. A 4-0 run highlighted by kills from Emma Dunn and Taylor Larsen made it 13-7 EWU. The Red Raiders then scored seven straight points and took a 15-14 lead. Trailing 17-16, Chloe Weber and MaKenna Davis came down with consecutive kills and Emma Dunn had a service ace to lead 19-17. After the two sides traded points, the set was tied 22-22 before TTU scored the final three to pull away 25-22.
Set three was close from the beginning as the two teams traded points early on. Down by two, the Eagles fired off four straight kills, including two from Weber, to pull ahead 10-8. The foes then went point-for-point as the set remained tied at 20-20 following Seiler's ninth kill of the day. The Red Raiders then pulled off a 5-2 run to take the set 25-22 and seal the match 3-0.
TOP PERFORMERS: For the fifth straight match, Ashley Seiler led the team in kills as she collected nine, followed by Taylor Larsen who had seven and Chloe Weber who had six. Seiler just missed her third double-double of the season as she had an additional eight digs. She also led the team in blocks with three. Freshman Emma Dunn dished out a team-leading 14 assists followed by Regan Harr who had 13. Megan LaFond compiled 19 digs.
KEY STATS: Texas Tech was able to hit at a .214 clip compared to Easten's .070. EWU had more service aces (3) than the Red Raiders who only had one. However, TTU had 44 kills compared to EWU's 30.
UP NEXT: The Cal Classic continues tomorrow (Sept. 2) with the final matches of the weekend. The Eagles face the hosts at 10 a.m. followed by a matchup against Dartmouth at 5 p.m.
NOTEABLES: Chloe Weber set a season-high with six kills and hit at a .357 clip, only committing one error in 14 attempts. Taylor Larsen also only had one error in 14 tries, hitting a season-high .429. MaKenna Davis came through with her first three kills as an Eagle. The freshman hit .375 on eight attempts and no errors.
