CHENEY, Wash. – The final weekend of nonconference play for the Eastern Washington University volleyball team has arrived. The Eagles head to San Antonio, Texas, for the Cardinal Classic on Sept. 14-15. EWU opens against Alcorn State on Friday at 5 p.m. Pacific time and close the tournament against the hosts Incarnate Word on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. PT.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Both of Eastern's matches will
live streamed free of charge.
Live stats will also be available for both matches.
GET TO KNOW YOUR EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 7-3 overall, tying them for first place in the Big Sky Conference standings with Northern Arizona. The Eagles are off to their best start through 10 matches since 2006 and it's only the fifth time they have been 7-3 in program history.
Offensively, the Eagles have three players that average nearly three kills per set in
Alexandra Espinosa (2.91),
Kamille Langford (2.30) and
Kennedy Kaminsky (2.27). Kaminsky leads the Eagles with 84 kills and is swinging .241 on the season.
Samantha Boever paces the offense with 9.57 kills/set and has 354 on the year with four double-doubles.
Catelyn Linke is averaging .46 service aces/set and has totaled 17 which rank 58
th and 27
th in the nation, respectively. Additionally,
Puaoolelagi Sao leads EWU with 131 digs, averaging 3.64/set. Linke also averages 3.27 digs/set with 121 on the year.
Taylor Larsen leads the team with 28 total blocks. Langford and Kaminsky have put up 26 total blocks as well.
As a team, Eastern Washington has an attack percentage of .181 and are limiting their opponents to just .189. They average 12.14 kills/set and 17.78 digs per set which ranks 14
th in the nation. Their 658 total digs rank 17
th. Eastern Washington also averages 1.41 aces per set, their 52 total aces is 88
th across Division I.
LAST TIME OUT: The Eagles flew East for the Pirate Invitational on Sept. 6-7 where they emerged 2-1 on the weekend. After dropping to the hosts East Carolina 3-0 on Thursday, EWU bounced back and claimed a 3-1 win over Charlotte and swept Gardner-Webb.
Kamille Langford and
Puaoolelagi Sao were named to the all-tournament team for their efforts.
Additionally, the Eagles garnered 98 digs in the win over Charlotte, which is 10
th all-time in program history for digs in a four-set match. Both
Samantha Boever and
Alexandra Espinosa collected double-doubles in the victory.
GET TO KNOW THE BRAVES: Alcorn State is a member of the SWAC and are 2-5 on the year following a two-match win streak. The Eagles and Braves have one like opponent this season in East Carolina, both falling to the Pirates 3-0.
The Braves rank 21
st in the nation with 1.83 service aces per set. They are led by Fiapaipai Iosia who ranks third in Division I with 0.92 aces per set. She has 22 total aces on the year which is 10
th in the nation.
As a team, they swing at a .122 clip and let their opponents hit .215. Alondra Rivera (2.57 kills/set) and Sydney Joseph (2.46 kills/set) pace the Braves offensively. Jurnee Calhoun runs the offense with 6.67 assists/set.
SERIES HISTORY: Friday will mark the first all-time meeting between the two teams. It will also mark the first time in program history that Eastern Washington plays a team from the SWAC conference.
GET TO KNOW THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals are 0-8 on the season and have only collected wins in two sets.
The Cardinals are led offensively by Autumn Lockley who averages 3.12 kills per set, followed by Bethany Clapp who averages 2.54 while swinging .235. Madelynn Miller averages 3.94 digs/set to lead the Cardinals. As a team, UIW is hitting .164 and allowing their opponents to strike at a .274 clip.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern and Incarnate Word have never played each other before. The Eagles are 5-1 all-time against teams from the Southland Conference.
UP NEXT: The Eagles take to Reese Court for the first time this season on Tuesday, Sept. 18, for their Big Sky Conference opener against Idaho at 6 p.m. Admission to all home regular season volleyball matches is complimentary to the public. Eastern then hits the road again for a match up at Northern Colorado at 6 p.m. PT.
