BERKELEY, Calif. – On the final day of the Cal Classic, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team dropped two matches. The first came in three sets to the host school Cal before battling Dartmouth and falling in five sets. With the losses, the Eagles drop to 1-5 on the season.
MATCH ONE: Cal 3, Eastern Washington 0
The Eagles pushed Cal in three sets in its first match of the day, falling 25-19, 25-20 and 25-21.
In the first set, the Eagles found themselves in a 12-7 hole early on. Trailing 19-12, a kill from Alexandra Espinosa sparked the EWU offense as they went on a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to three, 20-17. A kill from Ashley Seiler made it 21-18 as Cal called a timeout. However, the spark came a bit too late as the Bears were able to go on a 4-1 run to close the set 25-19.
Eastern Washington took its first lead of the day in the second set as they pulled ahead 6-5 early on. Cal was able to come back and lead 10-9, but not before three straight Eagle points put them back on top 12-10. Down 15-13, EWU fired off four consecutive points to lead 17-15 and force a Cal timeout. With the match tied 20-20, the Bears found their offensive momentum and scored five straight points to take set two 25-20.
Both sides exchanged points in the early parts of set three until Cal was able to pull ahead 11-8. Trailing 20-11, a kill from Catelyn Linke and a service ace from Emma Dunn along with a Bear error cut Eastern's deficit to 20-14. The Eagles continued to fight back as a trio of kills, two from Ashley Seiler and one from Taylor Larsen, put Eastern within four, 22-18. Facing set point, two Bear errors looked to keep Eastern in the game, but Cal held on for the 25-21 set three victory as they took the match in straight sets.
TOP PERFORMERS: Freshman Catelyn Linke garnered her first career double-double, as she ranked second on the team with 10 kills and 12 digs. She also hit at a .292 clip, committing only three errors in 24 tries, while adding a service ace and two blocks.
For the fifth straight match, Ashley Seiler led the team with 13 kills. She was also two digs short of her third double-double of the season. Jayde Robertsen totaled three blocks, while Regan Harr dished out 17 assists. Megan LaFond was the team's leader in digs with 16.
KEY STATS: As a team, the Eagles hit at a .147 clip (34k-17e-116ta). They also had four total blocks, 53 digs and 34 assists.
MATCH TWO: Dartmouth 3, Eastern Washington 2
After dropping the first set 25-18, the Eagles came out in the second set and took a 6-5 lead. After exchanging points, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 20-10. The run was highlighted by two service aces by Hannah Absalonson and a kill from Jayde Robertsen. Facing set point, Dartmouth came up with a block but it wasn't enough as the Eagles cruised to a convincing 25-15 set two victory.
It was Dartmouth that jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the third set. A 3-0 run from the Eagles that included kills from Ashley Seiler and Alex Espinosa put them within one, 11-10. Down 16-15, another consecutive run of points that included more kills from Seiler and Espinosa gave Eastern an 18-16 lead. Trailing 20-21, Eastern began to put the Big Green away with four straight points to lead 24-21 as they hung on for the 25-20 set three win.
After Dartmouth claimed the 25-15 set four win, the two sides headed to the decisive fifth set. Eastern found themselves down 6-3 and had to call timeout early in the set. They eventually cut their lead to two when Espinosa served up an ace and came up with a kill. However, the Big Green scored the final five points of the match as they took set five 15-8 and the match 3-2.
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: The loss puts Eastern winless for the weekend as they fall to 1-5 on the young season with one more nonconference tournament remaining. Dartmouth moves to 1-2 after its first weekend of play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ashley Seiler garnered her third double-double of the season with a team leading 18 kills and 12 digs. Regan Harr also had her first double-double of the season with 30 assists and 19 digs. Alex Espinosa compiled a career high 11 kills with a .212 hitting percentage as she only committed four errors on 33 attempts. Hannah Absalonson served up a career-high four service aces. Jayde Robertsen threw up five blocks with a career-high seven kills.
KEY STATS: As a team, the Eagles totaled their highest dig total of the season with 81 and had four players in double figures. EWU had more kills and assists, but the Big Green outblocked them 16-8. Both teams struggled with hitting percentage, but Dartmouth hit at a .110 clip with only 23 errors compared to EWU's .049 clip and 41 errors.
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington travels to the East coast for its final nonconference tournament of the season at the Canisius Invitational in Buffalo, N.Y. The Eagles take on Charlotte, Bucknell and Canisius from Sept. 8-9.
