CHENEY, Wash. – For the first time this season, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team took to Reese Court tonight (Sept. 18). The Eagles hosted the Idaho Vandals for its Big Sky Conference opener, falling in straight sets (21-25, 24-26, 13-25).
 
"I think we had glimpses of goodness tonight. I like how we were starting to get runs on them, especially in game two where we made them earn every point," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We were right there with them. We have a lot of young players, it's a rebuilding year and they are hungry to do that and are responding well to everything. I'm excited about a lot of things."
 
The Eagles fell behind 11-8 in the opening frame before a 3-0 run that included two kills from Kennedy Kaminsky and a service ace from Grace Nelson tied the set up, 11-11. The Vandals responded with a 6-1 run to lead 17-12 and force an EWU timeout. Both sides would trade points and the Eagles would use a 3-0 spurt to come within two. A kill from Alexandra Espinosa fought off set point, but the Vandals were able to close the set with 25-21 victory.
 
Idaho opened an 8-3 lead in the second set before the Eagles used four-straight points to come within one. A key 3-0 spurt from EWU midway through the second set gave them a 14-13 advantage. The Eagles were hanging on to a 21-19 lead when Idaho went on a 3-0 run to lead 22-21. Down by one, Catelyn Linke hammered down a kill to tie the set at 23-all. Idaho regained a one-point lead, but Kamille Langford had a kill to keep the Eagles alive. However, Idaho was able to score the final two points to hang on for a final 26-24 set two victory, giving them a 2-0 lead.
 
Eastern struggled to find its footing in the third set. They kept it close in the beginning, using a 4-0 run to trail by one, 9-8. That's when Idaho responded with a 6-0 run to lead 16-10. The Vandals then closed the set on a 5-0 spurt to claimed set three, 25-13 and the match 3-0.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, the Eagles drop to 8-5 (0-1 Big Sky) on the season and the Vandals improve to 7-6 (1-0 Big Sky). This is the first time all season that EWU has lost back-to-back matches and they are now 3-3 in three set matches.
 
Tonight marked the 55^th all-time meeting between the two schools. Idaho leads the all-time series 36-20 and have claimed four straight meetings.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Kaitlin Sugai led the team with seven kills, followed by Kennedy Kaminsky and Alexandra Espinosa who had six. Kaminsky also led the Eagles with four blocks and Sugai hit .333 with only three errors on 12 attempts.
 
Grace Nelson had two service aces, while Samantha Boever paced the Eagles with 23 assists. Both Puaoolelagi Sao and MaKenna Davis had double-digit digs with 12 and 10, respectively.
 
KEY STATS: The Vandals were able to hit .330 and limit Eastern to .070. Idaho also out-blocked EWU 11 to five.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: Eastern Washington hits the road again to face Northern Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.
 
MORE FROM COACH FLORES-CLOUD:
 
On Tonight's Takeaways: "Today we learned that if you come out on the court and you're tentative, it's going to show. We had a lot of nerves being young in our first home opener. We have a lot of young kids, there was one point where I looked at the girls on the court and not one of them was here last year. That's remarkable that we've come together and came this far."
 
On Individual Performances: "I think Grace Nelson did some great things. She was definitely serving our toughest out there and we were doing some good things behind her. MaKenna Davis was also doing some great things serving wise and defensively. Everyone in the back row was playing their hearts out, we just need to find some arms that want to do that same."