CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team hosted Sacramento State in Big Sky Conference play today (Oct. 6). The Eagles were unable to claim a set from the Hornets, falling 3-0 (22-25, 14-25, 11-25).
 
"I really liked how we came out in the match, we were doing some really good things to start. We did a nice job of attacking their outsides with our blocks. We talked a lot about serving and passing and unfortunately our passing wasn't there tonight," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "Our team is beat up and a Sunday off day is going to really help us."
 
Both sides settled in and exchanged points to open the first set. Eastern had a two-point lead, 7-5, when Sacramento State used a 7-1 run to lead 12-8. Kaitlin Sugai then hammered down a kill that sparked a 4-0 run for the Eagles and tied the set, 12-12. The Hornets were able to break the tie and pulled ahead 19-14. Then, a block by Kassandra Thomazin and Kahle Elliot and a service ace from ShaRae Niu helped the Eagles go on a 5-0 spurt to the tie the set at 19-all. The Hornets were able to stay on top and eventually found themselves ahead 24-21. Facing set point, Kennedy Kaminksy came down with the kill, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles fell 25-22.
 
In the second set, Sacramento State opened an 8-2 lead. A 10-1 run by the Hornets helped extend their lead to 21-8. Eastern tried to fight back with a kill from Sugai, an ace from Samantha Boever and a block from Elliott and Kaminsky but fell short, as the Hornets cruised to a 25-14 set two victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles only trailed by three in the third set, 10-7, when the Hornets used a 5-0 spurt to lead 15-7. Eastern Washington never found the offensive momentum needed to shut Sacramento State down, as they fell 25-11 in the third and final set, dropping the match 3-0.
 
"I thought Kennedy Kaminsky had a good match for us tonight and Kahle Elliott did some good things until they started stopping her at the end," noted Flores-Cloud. "ShaRae Niu came in and served well for us and got us into the game. Overall, we had spurts of really good things and we're a young team, so for us it's about finding out how we can be more consistent."
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, the Eagles fall to 8-10 on the season and 0-6 in Big Sky play. Sacramento State improves to 9-11 and 4-2 in conference.
 
Today marked the 52^nd time that the two teams have met, with EWU trailing the all-time series 17-35. Sacramento State has now claimed the last four meetings.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Kahle Elliott and Kennedy Kaminsky led the team in kills. Kaminsky hit at a .235 clip (6k-2e-17ta) and Elliott hit .188 (6k-3e-16ta).
 
For the second straight match, Kassandra Thomazin led the team in block with a new career-high of four. Samantha Boever dished out 10 assists, followed by ShaRae Niu who had eight. MaKenna Davis led the Eagles with nine digs, while Puaoolelagi Sao followed with eight. Catelyn Linke, Niu and Davis each had one service ace apiece.
 
KEY STATS: Sacramento State had 13 aces and Eastern only had three. The Hornets also outblocked EWU, nine to seven. Additionally, Sacramento State hit at a .240 clip and held the Eagles to just .046. Both teams had 40 digs each.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The Eagles hit the road again as Big Sky Conference play continues. Eastern Washington heads to Montana (Oct. 11) and Montana State (Oct. 13) before closing the road trip at Idaho on Oct. 16. EWU returns to Reese Court for a match against Northern Colorado on Oct. 20, the beginning of three-straight home matches.