FULLERTON, Calif. – The 2018 campaign started off in the win column for the Eastern Washington University volleyball team today (Aug. 24) at the Titan Classic. The Eagles earned a 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-22) victory over UMass Lowell to begin the season 1-0. The win also marks the inaugural victory for first-year head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud.
 
"I thought we did some really good things. I thought we won the side out battle and that is very important, it was a key factor in us winning," said Flores-Cloud. "It's exciting, and this win is a credit to our athletes' hard work and buy-in to what I'm teaching. Tomorrow I would like to see improvement in our outside pin and improve our hitting efficiency overall."
 
Tied at 6-6 to open the first set, the Eagles exploded on a 4-0 run that included a kill from Kennedy Kaminsky and a service ace from MaKenna Davis. The Eagles continued to pull ahead, leading by as many as five points (19-14) at one point thanks to another ace from Davis. It was set point EWU, 24-19, when the River Hawks started to creep back. They fired off four straight points to only trail by one. However, Kamille Langford hammered down the set-winning kill, giving Eastern a 25-23 set one victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles used a 4-0 run in the second set to open a 5-2 lead over UML. Another 4-0 spurt highlighted by a Kaminsky kill put EWU ahead, 9-4. Later in the set, Eastern was leading the River Hawks 18-15 when UML used a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the set, 21-18. Eastern then found themselves in a four-point deficit when back-to-back kills from Kaminsky and Langford helped spark a run that put the Eagles back up, 24-23. Tied 25-25, Alexandra Espinosa fired off consecutive kills to help propel Eastern to a 27-25 set two win.
 
Both sides traded points to open the third set when Taylor Larsen began heating up. She contributed with two kills in a 4-0 run to put Eastern up 7-5. Later in the match, the Eagles found themselves up 14-9 when UML used a 4-0 run to come within one point. A 5-0 run by Eastern put them ahead 22-16 as they looked to close the third set out. However, the River Hawks would not back down, as they used a 5-1 run facing set point to come within three points. Kaminsky would come down with the set-winning kill as the Eagles won set three 25-22 and picked up a sweep over UMass Lowell for its first victory of the season.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington moves to 1-0 on the season while UMass Lowell opens its respective season 0-1. This is the first-ever meeting between the two squads as EWU now moves to 2-0 all-time against teams in the America East Conference.
 
WHAT IT MEANS: The victory marks the first win for first-year head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. The Eagles now move to 18-19 all-time in season openers and it marks the first time since 2016 that the Eagles started the season 1-0.
 
TOP PERFORMERS: Freshman Kennedy Kaminsky led the Eagles in kills with 11, followed by sophomore Kamille Langford who had nine. Langford also led the team with four total blocks. Sophomore MaKenna Davis led the Eagles with 14 digs while fellow sophomore Catelyn Linke tacked on 13. The duo each served up two aces apiece. Junior Samantha Boever led Eastern with 35 assists. Taylor Larsen led the Eagles in hitting percentage with a .571 clip, tallying eight kills on 14 attempts with no errors.
 
KEY STATS: The Eagles hit at a .167 clip compared to the River Hawks' .094. Eastern had 41 kills and only 19 errors while UML totaled 35 kills and 23 errors. EWU also outblocked UMass Lowell, seven to five, and had 38 assists compared to UML's 33. Additionaly, UMass Lowell totaled nine service aces to Eastern's six.
 
NOTEABLES: Six players made their EWU debuts in Kennedy Kaminsky, Kamille Langford, Samantha Boever, Grace Nelson, Parker Buddy and Puaoolelagi Sao.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The Titan Classic continues tomorrow with two matches for the Eagles. Eastern begins with a matchup against Akron at 11 a.m. before wrapping up against the hosts, UC Riverside, at 7 p.m.
 
MORE FROM FLORES-CLOUD: "Kamille Langford played amazing, she was there for us in crunch time. She was transitioning really well to get open for our setter. Kennedy Kaminsky played phenomenal in the middle. It was fun to see a freshman come out and have the success that she had and I am excited to get back in the gym and make her give us that effort in practice. Taylor Larsen had our best hitting percentage by far, she stepped up for us and lead us in our efficiency. Overall, she played a great game."