CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team finds themselves in the win column after a thrilling 3-2 (25-13, 22-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-7) victory over Southern Utah tonight (Oct. 17) at Reese Court.
 
The Eagles hit at a season-high clip of .326 after totaling 63 kills and only 17 errors. Additionally, Eastern Washington served up 11 aces to go with a season-high of nine blocks. Four Eagles garnered double-digit kills, led by Ashlyn Blotzer's 17, and two had double-digit digs.
 
"This win means a lot. We were talking today about relentless effort and that we still have a shot in this conference. We want it and just needed to get a monkey off of our back, and now we're going full steam ahead," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We knew our game plan, we knew what we were doing and I owe that all to my team. We put time in it, but it's up to them to do the work and they did, it showed tonight."
 
Eastern Washington claimed the first two points of the opening set on back-to-back kills from Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala and Renata Lopez Morales and the Eagles never looked back. A 6-1 run gave the Eagles a 7-4 lead to open the set. A 7-1 run that included two kills from MaKenna Davis and an ace from Ana Paula Zandona gave Eastern a comfortable 15-6 lead.
 
Southern Utah scored one point before the Eagles fired off another six unanswered. The Thunderbirds started to find momentum late in the set, but the Eagles stayed collected and took the opening frame, 25-13, and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The second set was closely contested as it saw nine ties and three lead changes. It was also a game of runs, as Southern Utah strung together five-straight points to lead 16-11 before Eastern cut the deficit to 16-14 after three-straight points. The Thunderbirds answered back, firing off another three to lead 19-14 and later three more to lead 22-16. The Eagles trailed 23-18 when they scored four-straight points that included two aces and a kill from Davis. The run cut the deficit to two points, 23-21, but the Thunderbirds held on to win 25-22 and even the match, 1-1.
 
Eastern Washington cruised to an 11-5 lead to open the set after going on a 9-1 run. Back-to-back aces from ShaRae Niu sparked the surge and it also included two kills from both Blotzer and Davis. Southern Utah cut the lead to 14-11 when the team traded point-for-point with Eastern still holding an 18-14 advantage. Later in the set, Eastern led 22-20 when the Thunderbirds found momentum, scoring five-straight points to steal set three, 25-22, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles regrouped in the fourth set. Leading 10-7, Eastern Washington poured it on with a 7-1 run to lead 17-8. The closest the Thunderbirds got was six points before the Eagles scored three-straight to pull ahead 22-13. Up 23-16, a Thunderbird service error gave Eastern an advantage before Ana Paula Zandona hammered down an ace to end the set. Eastern Washington won 25-16 and evened the match 2-2.
 
In the crucial fifth set, Southern Utah jumped out to the 3-1 lead. From there, the Eagles took a 7-4 advantage after going on a 6-1 run. The momentum continued as EWU rattled off six-straight points. Davis would come up big, hammering down a kill to lead 13-5 and another to give Eastern set point, 14-6. SUU would threaten one more time before Capizzi had the final say, delivering a kill to give Eastern the 15-7 decision and the 3-2 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington improves to 3-16 overall and 1-6 in Big Sky Conference play. Southern Utah, who was second in the Big Sky prior to tonight, falls to 11-8 and 4-3 in conference play.
 
The Eagles continue to lead the all-time series, 7-4, and the win snaps a two-game skid to the Thunderbirds. Eastern is 3-2 all-time at Reese Court and have won six out of the last 10 meetings.
 
All three of Eastern's wins this season have come in five sets, as the Eagles are 3-1 when going the distance.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Three Eagles garnered double-digit kills, led by Ashlyn Blotzer who had a career-high 17. MaKenna Davis followed with 13 while Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala had 12.
 
The trio each hit over .200 tonight with Blotzer leading the attack by swinging .448 (17-4-29), Keala hit .370 (12-2-27) and Davis hit .357 (13-3-28).
 
Davis also led the team with three of Eastern's 11 service aces on the night. Ana Paula Zandona and ShaRae Niu had two.
 
Zandona also dished out 51 assists to lead the team, just one shy of a career-high.
 
Catelyn Linke was solid at the libero spot with 21 digs followed by Niu who had 12.
 
Nicoletta Capizzi led the way with six block assists for a career-high, followed by Keala who had five.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington swung at a season-high .326 percent with 63 kills, also a season-high. The Eagles also only committed 17 errors on 141 attempts.
 
Southern Utah hit .224 with 53 kills and 19 errors on 152 total attempts.
 
The Eagles also had 11 service aces while the Thunderbirds only had two.
 
Eastern Washington also set a new season-high as a team with nine blocks to SUU's four. Additionally, the Eagles had 58 assists to Southern Utah's 45 and 61 digs to their 49.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles look to carry the momentum into Saturday's (Oct. 19) contest against preseason favorite Northern Arizona at Reese Court with first serve set for 2:05 p.m. The Lumberjacks are currently 10-9 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play after a 3-1 loss at Idaho tonight.