CHENEY, Wash. – With the last half of Big Sky Conference play on the horizon, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team will be splitting time on the road and at home this week.
The Eagles first travel to Pocatello, Idaho on Oct. 24 to take on Idaho State with first serve set for 6 p.m. Pacific time. On Saturday Oct. 26, Eastern Washington is back at Reese Court to host Weber State at 2:05 p.m.
HOW TO WATCH: Both games can be streamed for free on Pluto TV and on WatchBigSky.com. Thursday's contest will be on channel 543 while Saturday's will be on channel 534. Live stats for both matches can be found by visiting EWUStats.com.
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is coming off a weekend at home where they beat Southern Utah, 3-2, and fell to Northern Arizona, 3-1. After the weekend, the Eagles are sitting at 3-17 overall and 1-7 in Big Sky Conference play.
Ashlyn Blotzer continues to lead the Eagles in several statistical categories, including kills per set (2.01), hitting percentage (.209), total service aces (20), blocks per set (.68) and total blocks (50).
Freshman
Nicoletta Capizzi is close behind with 1.85 kills per set and .60 blocks per set.
MaKenna Davis ranks sixth in the Big Sky with .34 service aces per set, totaling 19 on the year. As a team, the Eagles are fifth in the conference with 1.30 aces per set.
Puaoolelagi Sao and
Catelyn Linke have split libero duties this year, averaging 3.84 and 3.83 digs per set, respectively, which is also seventh and eighth in the Big Sky.
Ana Paula Zandona leads the team with 7.37 assists per set which is ninth in the conference.
A LOOK AT IDAHO STATE: Idaho State is 6-14 overall with a 3-5 mark in Big Sky Conference play, which is tied for eighth in the standings just ahead of Eastern Washington. The Bengals are coming off a sweep at Montana and a four-set loss to Montana State last week.
The Bengals are second in the conference with 16.62 digs per set and also rank sixth in blocks per set with 2.07. They swing at a .156 clip and hold opponents to .199.
Haylie Keck paces ISU with 2.78 kills per set while swinging .157. She also has 23 service aces and is averaging .30 per set. Taylor Meeks ranks fifth in the conference with 1.17 blocks per set along with Mahala Bradburn who is fifth with 4.09 digs per set.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington will look to snap a nine-game skid to the Bengals on Thursday. They lead the all-time series over ISU 40-37, but are 16-21 in Pocatello.
The last win on the road came on Oct. 21, 2011 where the Eagles swept the Bengals in straight sets. Eastern's last win over the Bengals took place on Nov. 15, 2012 at home.
A LOOK AT WEBER STATE: Weber State is 13-6 overall and an even 4-4 in conference play. They are on a two-match winning streak after beating Montana State in straight sets and Montana in three sets last week. The Wildcats are currently sitting in fifth in the Big Sky standings.
The Wildcats rank second in the conference with a .232 clip and let their opponents hit only at a .166 percentage. They are also second in assists (11.89), kills (12.70) and blocks (2.64) per set.
WSU boasts Ashlyn Power who leads the conference with 10.73 assists per set. They also have three players who average over two kills per set and three players who have totaled over 50 blocks this season.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington is 43-33 all-time against the Wildcats and have won five out of the last ten meetings. The Eagles will look to stop a three-game losing streak to WSU on Saturday. In Reese Court, EWU owns the all-time series 26-11.
From 2012 to 2016, the Eagles won five in a row, with the last victory coming in five sets on Oct. 27, 2016 at home.
UP NEXT: The second half of Big Sky Conference play brings the Eagles to Portland State on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. Eastern hosted Portland State on the opening weekend of conference action and fell in straight sets.
On November 2, Eastern rematches with Sacramento State at 1 p.m. The Eagles and Hornets faced off in the conference opener where EWU fell, 3-1.
