CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team returns to Reese Court this week. The Eagles play host to Montana State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8, before taking on Montana at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9. Admission to both matches are complimentary to the public.
 
PROMOTIONS: On Thursday's (Nov. 8) match against Montana State, the first 100 students will receive free pizza.
 
All EWU students that attend Friday's (Nov. 9) match against Montana will receive a coupon to enter 30 minutes (11 a.m.) early before regular gate time at the EWU football game against UC Davis. Additionally, there will be free postgame posters and autographs with every member of the Eastern volleyball team following the match.
 
HOW TO WATCH: Both matches will be streamed live, for free, on WatchBigSky.com or through the Pluto TV app on channel 234. Live stats can be found on EWUStats.com and fans can follow @EWUVB on Twitter for live in-game updates and video highlights.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 8-18 overall and 0-14 in Big Sky Conference play. The Eagles are coming off of losses at Sacramento State (3-0) and Portland State (3-1) last week.
 
Kamille Langford leads the Eagles offensively with 2.09 kills per set while swinging .155. Freshman Kennedy Kaminsky is averaging 1.95 kills per set with a .175 hitting percentage. Langford and Kaminsky also lead the Eagles in blocks per set with .81 and .75, respectively.
 
Catelyn Linke leads Eastern with 27 service aces (.29/set) while MaKenna Davis averages .30 aces per set with 24 on the year. Samantha Boever paces Eastern's offense with 8.03 assists per set to rank ninth in the Big Sky.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao ranks 10^th in the BSC with 4.04 digs per set, totaling 360 on the year. Linke follows with 3.05 per set.
 
As a team, Eastern swings .149 to their opponents .230. They average 10.7 kills, 9.8 assists, 15.6 digs and 1.9 blocks per set.
 
A LOOK AT THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 10-15 overall and 5-9 in conference play, which is tied for seventh in the standings with Montana. They are currently on a three-match losing streak after falling to Northern Colorado (3-0), Southern Utah (3-2) and Northern Arizona (3-0) all at home.
 
Allyssa Rizzo is 20^th in the nation with 5.39 digs and 21^st with 523 total digs. She is also 73^rd in service aces with 34. Kelsie White leads the way with 1.78 kills per set and an attack percentage of .240. Evi Wilson (2.67) and Natalie Passeck (2.81) average over two kills per set. Carina Lehto ranks eighth in the Big Sky with 8.78 assists per set.
 
As a team, the Bobcats are hitting .180 to their opponents .220. They average 12.01 kills, 11.25 assists, and 15.71 digs per set.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday is the 76^th time that the two teams face each other in program history with Eastern owning the all-time record, 53-22. Eastern and MSU last faced off on Oct. 13, 2018 in Bozeman. EWU was down 2-0 in the match and behind 24-21 in the third set when they came storming back to push the match to five sets, but unfortunately lost in the fifth frame by two points. Eastern is 32-5 all-time over the Bobcats in Reese Court and have won seven out of the last 10 match ups.
 
A LOOK AT THE GRIZZLIES: Montana is 8-18 overall and 5-9 in Big Sky play, which is tied for seventh in the conference standings with Montana State. The Grizzlies are currently on a seven-match losing streak, most recently falling to Northern Arizona (3-1) and Southern Utah (3-0).
 
Ashley Watkins paces the Griz offense with 10.03 assists per set which is 88^th in the nation. She has 973 on the year which is 64^th. Olivia Bradley is fifth in the Big Sky with a hitting percentage of .315. Mykaela Hammer is eighth in the conference in kills per set with 3.19 while Sarina Moreno is seventh in the Big Sky in digs per set with 4.28.
 
The Griz are hitting .169 while allowing their opponents to strike at a .234 clip. They also average 12.05 kills, 11.44 assists, 1.85 blocks, 1.14 service aces and 15.55 digs per set.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Friday marks the 78^th all-time meeting between the Griz and Eagles, with EWU trailing 76-40. Earlier this season, Eastern lost in Missoula 3-1. In Reese Court, EWU owns the 22-14 all-time record.
 
UP NEXT: The final week of the 2018-19 season awaits Eastern following these two matches. On Thursday, Nov. 15, the Eagles play at Southern Utah for their final road match of the season with first serve set for 5:30 p.m. PT. On Saturday, EWU returns to Reese Court for the final match of the season, hosting Northern Arizona at 7:30 p.m. Prior to the match, Eastern will recognize seniors Kahle Elliott, Alexandra Espinosa and Taylor Larsen.