CHENEY, Wash. – After opening Big Sky Conference play with a perfect 2-0 record, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team (5-6) is prepping to hit the road for the first conference road trip of the season. The Eagles open week two of league play on a four-match win streak. EWU looks to make it five straight as they take on Northern Colorado (8-7) on Thursday (Sept. 28) evening before traveling to Grand Forks to take on the defending BSC champions, North Dakota (17-2) on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT: After a one-week hiatus from competition, Eastern Washington took to Reese Court for the first time this season as they hosted Montana and Montana State to open Big Sky play.
EWU topped Montana by a score of 3-1 on Sept. 21. After taking the first two sets, Montana fought back to take the third before Eastern sealed the win with a set four victory. Alexandra Espinosa, Ashley Seiler and Regan Harr all recorded double-doubles, while Seiler paced the team with 17 kills. Espinosa also set a career-high 14 kills in the victory as Eastern outhit Montana .181 to .178.
On Saturday, Eastern found themselves down 2-1 to Montana State. In the fourth set, MSU led 24-21 before the Eagles stormed back with five-straight points to win 26-24. The fifth set was also pushed to extra points and Taylor Larsen hammered down the game-winning kills to give EWU a 16-14 victory. Freshman Emma Dunn garnered her first career double-double in the win while Kahle Elliott led the team with a career-high 13 kills.
EAGLE LEADERS: Ashley Seiler leads Eastern with 183 kills, good for 3.98 a set, which also leads the Big Sky. Regan Harr has dished out a total of 317 assists (6.89/set) and leads the team with 14 service aces along with Emma Dunn. Defensively, Megan LaFond has totaled 184 digs (4/set) while freshman Jayde Robertsen leads the team with 35 total blocks.
As a team, Eastern is only hitting .143 but they have been able to limit their opponent's hitting percentage to under .200 all season. They average 15.02 digs/set which ranks fifth in the conference, while their 1.35 service aces a set is fourth.
SCOUTING THE BEARS: Northern Colorado is 8-7 overall and opened Big Sky play with a 1-1 mark last weekend. The Bears topped Northern Arizona in five sets before losing to North Dakota in three.
As a team, the Bears are hitting at a .212 clip, which is good for fourth in the conference, while holding their opponents to a .178 hitting percentage, which is second. Northern Colorado has compiled the fourth-most kills (682, 12.63/set) and assists (909, 12.28) in the conference as well.
Individually, Ryleigh Hayne ranks leads the team with 386 assists. Taylor Els ranks sixth in the BSC in service aces with 20 and fifth in digs with 217 (4.02/set). Offensively, Kortney Lockey and Kim Weissman pace the Bears in kills with 156 and 135, respectively.
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday marks the 25th all-time meeting between the two foes, with Eastern trailing the series 8-16. The Eagles have only been able to claim two out of the last 10 meetings and have lost three straight to the Bears. Under head coach Michael King, EWU is 2-4 all-time against Northern Colorado, including 3-1 and 3-0 losses last season. Eastern has not beat UNC on the road since Sept, 27, 2014.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS: Eastern faces an even tougher road test at 17-2 North Dakota on Saturday. The Fighting Hawks also opened Big Sky play 2-0, as they topped Southern Utah 3-1 and swept Northern Colorado. UND plays host to Idaho on Thursday evening before taking on the Eagles.
Not only have the Fighting Hawks found success in the Big Sky, but they rank in the top-ten nationally in several categories. As a team, UND has a total of 1,157 digs which is good for fourth in the nation, while their 17.01 digs/set ranks 30th. North Dakota is strong at the net with 169 total blocks to rank fourth in all of Division I. Their 901 kills and 2,486 attacks ranks sixth in the nation while their 841 assists are fourth. North Dakota is the league leader in opponent hitting percentage, as they are only letting their foes hit at .154 clip while hitting .232 themselves.
Faith Dooley paces the Fighting Hawks both offensively and defensively. She hits at a .395 clip which is 35th in the nation. Her 225 kills (3.31/set) ranks 38th. Dooley has also amassed 90 blocks which is third in Division I. Additionally, Sydney Griffin's 720 assists also ranks third nationally.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington is 1-9 all-time against the Fighting Hawks. They have not topped UND since Sept. 24, 2015 when they swept them 3-0 at Reese Court. Since then, EWU has dropped three straight and have never beat North Dakota on the road in five tries.
NEXT UP: After this week, the Eagles hit the road again for matchups at Northern Arizona on Oct. 5 and Southern Utah on Oct. 7. Eastern Washington returns home for a single match against Idaho State on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. All home matches are complimentary to the public.
