CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team hosted Idaho tonight (Oct. 8) to a four-set (20-25, 26-24, 21-25, 21-25) loss inside Reese Court.
 
As a team, the Eagles hit at a season-high .282 clip and collected 65 kills which is also a season best. Four Eagles reached double-digit kills, led by Ashlyn Blozter's career-high 17. Ana Paula Zandona collected a career-best 52 of Eastern's season-high 59 assists while Catelyn Linke reached 26 digs.
 
The match was closely contested as the score was tied a total of 41 times, including 14 times in the pivotal fourth set.

"Our players played with a lot a of effort, it got deep in the game and Idaho served a lot tougher in the long run. We were passing well and couldn't capitalize on that," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "This game had a lot of rallies and we did a lot of great things effort wise, but we fell a little short."
 
Both sides were fairly even to start the first set and it was Eastern Washington who trailed 10-8 before kills from Nicoletta Capizzi and Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala evened the score at 10-10. The Eagles were only down by a point when the Vandals used a 5-1 run to stretch a lead to 21-16. Eastern Washington immediately responded with a 4-0 run of their own that was sparked by a kill from Renata Lopez Morales to come within a point 21-20. However, the Vandals scored four-straight points to claim the opening set 25-20 and took a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Eastern Washington totaled 20 kills in the second set and only committed four errors to hit .348 during the frame. The Vandals had a 12-9 advantage when the Eagles came alive, rattling off six-straight points behind the serve of Alisha Straw to take a 15-12 lead. The run was highlighted by two aces from Straw and two kills from Lopez Morales.
 
Idaho was able to respond and take a 17-16 lead when the Eagles answered back to retake a 20-18 advantage. Once Idaho retook a 22-21 lead, Lopez Morales hammered down a kill to tie the set 22-all. From there, back-to-back kills from Blotzer and Straw gave Eastern set point, but Idaho capitalized on an error to even the set 24-24. However, Eastern kept its composure and consecutive kills from Blotzer and MaKenna Davis closed out the set, 26-24, and evened the match 1-1.
 
With the third set tied 5-5, a block from Davis and Blotzer started a 5-0 run for the Eagles and gave them a 10-5 lead. Eastern continued to pull ahead and led 14-10 when Idaho went on a 6-1 run to tie the set, 16-16. EWU's lead dwindled and with the set tied 19-19, the Vandals charged ahead to take a 23-20 advantage and eventually won the set, 25-21, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set was closely contested, as neither side led by more than a point until Idaho took a 13-11 lead. The lead turned to 15-12 with a kill from Davis started a 3-0 run to tie the set, 15-15. The set remained close as both teams were tied when the scoreboard hit 20. It was Idaho who pulled away on a 3-0 run to take the 23-20 lead. Davis hammered down a kill in a last-ditch effort to spark the Eagle offense, but Idaho closed the set with two-straight points to take the 25-21 victory and the match 3-1.  
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops to 2-15 overall with an 0-5 mark in Big Sky Conference play while Idaho improves to 8-9 and 4-1 in conference action.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: The Eagles had four players reach double digits in kills, led by Ashlyn Blotzer's career-high 17. She had only three errors on 32 attempts to swing .438 on the night. The sophomore also added a service ace, three blocks and five digs.
 
MaKenna Davis followed with a season-high 15 kills. She led the team in hitting percentage, swinging .464 with only two errors on 28 attempts.
 
Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala tied her career-high with 12 kills and Renata Lopez Morales also notched a career-high in kills with 11.
 
Catelyn Linke led the team with a season-high 26 digs and Ana Paula Zandona led the team with a career best 52 assists. Alisha Straw led the team with two service aces, also a career-high.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington set several season-highs as a team beginning with a .282 hitting percentage. They collected a season-best 65 kills and only 19 errors on 163 attempts.
 
Idaho was evenly matched and hit .271 with 59 kills and 13 errors on 170 attempts.
 
Eastern had 69 digs to Idaho's 47 and 59 assists to their 48, but were out-blocked 9-to-3 and UI had seven service aces to Eastern's three.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington now travels to Greeley, Colo., for a match at Northern Colorado on Friday, Oct. 11, at 11 a.m. Pacific time.
 
The Eagles will be back at home next week to host Southern Utah (Oct. 17) and Northern Arizona (Oct. 19).