CHENEY, Wash. – For the final time this season, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team will be taking to Reese Court. The Eagles host the Northern Colorado Bears this Saturday (Nov. 16) at 4:05 p.m.
The last home match of the year typically serves as Senior Day, but with no seniors on the 2019 roster, the Eagles will be holding a different type of ceremony. Saturday's match against the Bears will be Diabetes Awareness Day inside Reese Court. Junior outside hitter,
MaKenna Davis, is a Type I diabetic and will be honored pre-game with a video sharing her story and journey as a Division I athlete living with diabetes. Herself and her teammates will also wear blue ribbons.
Admission to the match is complimentary to the general public and students and will also be streamed for free on WatchBigSky.com or Pluto TV Ch. 534. Live stats are available at EWUStats.com with live, in-game, updates and video highlights on Twitter @EWUVB.
The Eagles, who sit at 6-21 overall with a 4-11 record in Big Sky Conference play, are coming off of a 3-1 loss at Idaho on Tuesday (Nov. 12).
The Bears have already clinched at least a share of the Big Sky Regular Season Title and with a win at Idaho on Friday night (Nov. 15) or against the Eagles on Saturday, they will clinch the title outright. UNC sits alone at the top of the standings with a 19-7 overall record and a 13-1 conference mark.
Eastern Washington is in a three-way tie with Idaho State and Montana and are one game behind the 5-10 Portland State Vikings.
The Eagles trail the all-time series with the Bears, 9-20 and are just 5-9 against UNC at Reese Court. Eastern Washington will look to snap a three-game skid to Northern Colorado, with the last win coming at Reese Court on Nov. 3, 2017 in five sets.
Earlier this season, Eastern traveled to Greeley, Colo., where they suffered a 3-0 loss to UNC. Last season when the teams met at Reese Court, Eastern lost 3-1.
Eastern Washington hits at .139 clip with 10.9 kills, 10.0 assists, 1.3 aces, 15.3 digs and 1.5 blocks per set.
Ashlyn Blotzer leads the way with 2.79 kills and .65 blocks per set while hitting .213. Freshman
Nicoletta Capizzi is swinging .222 with 1.87 kills and .58 blocks per set.
Catelyn Linke leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big Sky with 4.51 digs per set and is just 111 digs away from becoming the ninth member of Eastern's 1,000 career digs club.
Ana Paula Zandona is ninth in the conference with 8.03 assists per set. Both Zandona, Blotzer and
MaKenna Davis have totaled over 20 aces so far this season.
Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky with 13.09 kills per set and are hitting .219 as a team. They are also second in the conference in both assists (12.14) and service aces (1.62) per set. Daisy Schultz leads the conference with 11.01 assists per set while Kyndall Feather and Laura Katarzynski are first and second, respectively, with .38 service aces per set.
Following Saturday's match, the Eagles head out on their final road trip of the regular season. Eastern Washington faces Northern Arizona on Thursday, Nov. 21 in Flagstaff at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time before playing at Southern Utah on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 12 p.m. PT.
