CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team played host to Northern Colorado this evening (Oct. 20) and fell in four sets (25-20, 15-25, 17-25, 15-25).
 
"Our team plays with a lot of heart, we're down a lot of players and the fight from them was remarkable," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We did a great job muscling up defensively and taking balls. Samantha Boever is small, but she's doing a great job of just setting the block. Our team is playing for each other, and you can't beat that."
 
Trailing by two points early in the first set, the Eagles came out aggressive and used a 4-0 run to lead 7-5. Another 5-1 run gave EWU a 12-8 advantage and forced a Northern Colorado timeout. Both sides would trade points, until a kill from Kennedy Kaminsky sparked a 4-0 run and gave Eastern a 23-18 lead. From there, Kaminsky and Kahle Elliott teamed up for a block and Kaminsky delivered the game-winning kill to take the opening set 25-20 and the 1-0 lead.
 
Northern Colorado strung together three-straight points to lead 12-7 and force an Eastern Washington timeout in the second set. EWU emerged from the break and fired off four-straight points that included two blocks from Elliott and Kaminsky to come within one point. UNC then broke away with a 7-0 run to lead 19-11 and eventually claimed the second set, 25-15.
 
The Eagles came out and opened on a 7-1 run in the third set, forcing an early UNC timeout. EWU was up 10-5 when the Bears tied it up following a 5-0 run. Eastern could never catch UNC, as the Bears closed on a 9-0 run to take the second set 25-17.
 
Down 13-7 in the fourth set, Eastern capitalized on two Bear errors and a block from Kaminsky to come within three. From there, EWU was not able to come back as the Bears took the fourth set 25-15.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, Eastern drops to 8-14 on the season and 0-10 in Big Sky play while Northern Colorado improves to 10-9 and 6-4 in conference.
 
The Bears have now taken the last two meetings between the two squads, as EWU fell 3-0 back on Sept. 22. UNC leads the all-time series, 19-9.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Freshman Kennedy Kaminsky led Eastern with 10 kills and four blocks, followed by Kahle Elliott who had seven kills and three blocks.
 
Samantha Boever garnered 23 assists and 12 digs, and Grace Nelson and Puaoolelagi Sao each had 15 digs to lead the Eagles.
 
KEY STATS: Northern Colorado had 11 service aces to Eastern's none. Both teams were even with six blocks each. The Bears hit at a .155 clip (52k-26e-168ta) while Eastern hit .070 (35k-24e-158ta).
 
UP NEXT: The three-match home stand continues next week for the Eagles. EWU hosts Weber State on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. and Idaho State on Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.