CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team concluded the 2019 home slate with a 3-0 (21-25, 17-25, 19-25) loss to Northern Colorado on Saturday (Nov. 16).
 
"I'm so proud of our team. Northern Colorado is relentless and really, really good. Every day we talk in our gym about being relentless too, and we were scrappy tonight," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "I wanted us to be a little more aggressive at the net but I thought we played lights out and I was proud of them."
 
The first set was tightly contested with six ties in all. UNC got the first breakaway and led 10-7 before a kill from Ashlyn Blotzer sparked three-straight points for the Eagles to tie it up 10-10. Both sides would exchange points and the two teams found themselves knotted at 15-all when the Bears rattled off four-straight points to pull ahead 19-15 and would later extend their lead to 23-19.
 
Nicoletta Capizzi fired off a kill and then teamed up with Renata Lopez Morales for a block, but the spark was too late as Eastern opened the first set with a 25-21 loss.
 
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set two before Northern Colorado answered back and took an 8-7 lead. It was all Northern Colorado from there, as they closed the set on a 7-1 run to claim set two, 25-17.
 
In the third set, Eastern Washington held a 6-5 lead when the Bears exploded for eight unanswered points to lead 13-6. The lead would eventually grow to 20-9 and then 23-12, but the Eagles would not back down.
 
Two Bear errors moved the score to 24-14 when Lopez Morales hammered down a kill that sparked a 5-0 run for the Eagles and forced a UNC timeout as EWU cut their deficit to 24-19. The timeout would unfortunately be helpful for the Bears as they came up with the final kill to win 25-19 and take the match 3-0.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops to 6-22 on the season and 4-12 in Big Sky play while Northern Colorado, the Regular Season Big Sky Champions, improve to 21-7 and 15-1.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: MaKenna Davis led the Eagles with eight kills to go with a service ace and a block. Renata Lopez Morales followed with seven kills as she hit .211 on the night with only three errors on 19 attempts.
 
Catelyn Linke led the way with 14 digs, while Ana Paula Zandona dished out 20 assists.
 
Both Nicoletta Capizzi and Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala had two blocks.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles were out-hit, .054 to .259. Northern Colorado had 43 kills and 14 errors on 112 attempts while EWU had 26 kills and 20 errors on 111 attempts.
 
Eastern Washington was just edged in aces, collecting two to UNC's three. The Bears out-blocked the Eagles, 7-to-5, and had 53 digs to EWU's 40.
 
UP NEXT: 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.