CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team is preparing to head out on the road again as Big Sky Conference play continues. The Eagles head to Missoula, Mont., for a match against the Grizzlies on Oct. 11 before taking on Montana State on Oct. 13 in Bozeman, Mont.
HOW TO WATCH: Thursday's match can be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 237 and via the live stats
HERE. Saturday's match can also be watched on Pluto TV Channel 288 and via
live stats. Additionally, both matches will air on WatchBigSky.com and fans can follow @EWUVB on Twitter for live in-game updates and video highlights.
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 8-10 overall and 0-6 in the Big Sky. EWU played host to Portland State last Thursday and dropped a close matchup, 3-2. On Saturday, the Eagles were unable to claim a set from Sacramento State and fell 3-0.
Freshman
Kennedy Kaminsky paces the Eagles with a .211 hitting percentage and averages 2.05 kills per set.
Catelyn Linke has 21 service aces on the year and averages .33 per set.
Samantha Boever paces Eastern's offense with 8.20 assists per set, totaling 525 this season. Defensively,
Puaoolelagi Sao has 237 digs this season with an average of 3.95 per set. Kaminsky also leads the team with 46 total blocks, averaging .72/set.
As a team, the Eagles rank 68
th in the nation with 16.20 digs per set and 79
th in attacks per set with 36.30. They hit at a .163 clip with an average of 11.1 kills per set, their opponents are hitting .213.
LAST TIME OUT: Both
MaKenna Davis (15k-14d) and
Catelyn Linke (11k-18d) picked up double-doubles in the team's five-set (25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 14-25, 11-15) loss to Portland State.
Puaoolelagi Sao also led the team with a career-best 30 digs.
The Eagles kept things close in the first set against Sacramento State, but were unable to find any momentum and fell in three sets (22-25, 14-25, 11-25). Both
Kennedy Kaminsky and
Kahle Elliott led the team with six kills. In just her second collegiate match,
Kassandra Thomazin led the team with four blocks.
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES: Montana is 7-11 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Last week, the Griz came out on the winning end of a five-set match at Southern Utah before falling to Northern Arizona in straight sets in Flagstaff.
Montana has two players that average over two kills per set in Mykaela Hammer (2.84) and Alexis Urbach (2.51). Hammer also paces the Griz with a .218 hitting percentage. Ashley Watkins ranks 94
th in the country with 9.86 assists per set and 50
th in total assists with 680.
As a team, Montana hits .166 and allows their opponents to strike at a .234 clip. They average 11.7 kills and 14.7 digs per set.
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday marks the 77
th all-time meeting between the Griz and Eagles, with EWU trailing 36-40. The two teams met twice last season, each picking up a victory at home. On Sept. 21, 2017, the Eagles won 3-1 in Cheney but lost 3-0 on Nov. 11, 2017 in Missoula. Eastern has lost four out of the last 10 matchups and are just 13-24 all-time in Missoula.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 7-10 overall with a 2-4 mark in Big Sky play. Last week, the Bobcats were swept on the road at Northern Arizona but topped Southern Utah 3-1 to end the road trip. MSU takes on Idaho on Oct. 11 before hosting the Eagles.
The Bobcats rank 96
th in the country with 15.74 digs per set and 97
th in total digs with 1,070. They are striking at a .179 clip and allow their opponents to hit .217. MSU averages 11.8 kills per set.
Offensively, they are led by Evi Wilson and Hannah Scott who each average 2.74 kills/set. Allyssa Rizzo is 19
th in Division I with 5.37 digs per set, 26
th in total digs with 365 and 95
th in service aces with 23.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday is the 75
th time that the two teams face each other in program history with Eastern owning the all-time record, 53-21. Last season, the Eagles picked up a thrilling five-set victory on Sept. 23, 2017 in Cheney, but lost 3-0 on Nov. 9 in Bozeman. The Eagles have won eight out of the last 10 meetings and are 20-15 all-time in Bozeman.
UP NEXT: The Eagles split between home and away next week as the second half of Big Sky play begins. Eastern takes on Idaho on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. before hosting Northern Colorado at Reese Court on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 6:05 p.m. Admission to all home regular season volleyball games is complimentary to the public.
