CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team hosted the defending Big Sky Conference Champions, Northern Arizona, today at Reese Court (Oct. 19). The Eagles were able to claim the second set, but fell by a score of 3-1 (14-25, 25-21, 11-25, 22-25).
 
"I didn't think we came out as strong as I would've liked. One of our goals was to get after the first set, but we gave them a four-point lead to start off. We had a lot of effort, especially with some players who haven't played a lot lately," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "ShaRae Niu set the fourth set for us and Kamille Langford did a great job in practice this week to give her the confidence to go in in set four. There were just a few pieces missing this afternoon."
 
Northern Arizona opened play in the first set with a 4-0 lead and the Eagles had to play catchup from there and dropped the opening set 25-14 despite hitting .212 with 11 kills and four errors.
 
The second set was as close as they come with 14 ties in all. After the two sides exchanged points to open the frame, a kill from Nicoletta Capizzi sparked a 4-0 run that helped the Eagles breakaway with a 9-6 lead. Once NAU stormed back to tie the set, 9-9, Capizzi teamed up with Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala for a block that started another 4-0 spurt to give Eastern a 13-9 advantage.
 
Once again, the two sides found themselves locked at 15-15 tie that later turned to 20-20. Down 21-20, the Eagles rattled off the five final points to take the 25-21 set two decision and tie the match, 1-1. The run included two kills from MaKenna Davis and a block from Davis and Ashlyn Blotzer.
 
Northern Arizona responded in the third set by hammering down 14 kills to help claim a 25-11 win and take a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set was also closely contested with six ties and four lead changes. The Lumberjacks opened a 7-2 lead that grew to 12-6 before back-to-back kills from Davis and ShaRae Niu helped the Eagles string together four-straight points to come within two, 12-10.
 
Later in the set, the Eagles took a brief 19-18 lead after Capizzi hammered down consecutive kills. A solo block from Renata Lopez Morales helped Eastern lead by two, 22-20, and kept their hopes of another set alive. However, the Lumberjacks had the final say, coming up with five-straight points to take the 25-22 decision and the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, the Eagles drop to 3-17 overall and 1-7 in Big Sky play. Northern Arizona improves to 11-9 and 4-4.
 
The Eagles still lead the all-time series, 37-30.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: MaKenna Davis garnered double-digit kills for the second-straight match, totaling 12 while hitting at a career-high .524 clip. Davis only committed one error on 21 attempts and was also two digs short of a double-double with eight.
 
Davis also had a service ace along with Ashlyn Blotzer and Nicoletta Capizzi. Capizzi swung .300 on the night with seven kills and only one error while Blotzer garnered eight kills. Capizzi also led the team in blocks with three while Blotzer had two.
 
Catelyn Linke (18), Renata Lopez Morales (11) and Málie McClure (10) all garnered double-digit digs.
 
Ana Paula Zandona led the team with 25 assists while ShaRae Niu had nine.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington hit .151 on the afternoon with 39 kills and 16 errors on 152 total attempts. Northern Arizona swung .285 with 55 kills and only 10 errors on 158 tries.
 
Eastern was edged in blocks, 7-to-6, but had the advantage in digs with 74 compared to NAU's 73. The Lumberjacks also had nine aces to Eastern's three and 49 assists to EWU's 39.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles will split time on the road and at home next week. First, Eastern Washington travels to Pocatello, Idaho, for a matchup at Idaho State on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. Pacific time. On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Eagles welcome Weber State to town for 2:05 p.m. matchup at Reese Court.