CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team topped Montana tonight (Nov. 8) in a five-set thriller at Reese Court. The Eagles jumped out and claimed the first two sets, only for the Grizzlies to respond in sets three and four before Eastern won set five to claim its fourth win in Big Sky Conference play.
 
As a team, the Eagles hit .269 on the night with 72 kills. Four Eagles collected kills into the double digits, led by Ashlyn Blotzer's career-best 18. Málie McClure (14k-17d) and Ana Paula Zandona (58a-11d) each had double doubles.
 
"I was really excited with how intense we played the entire match. We were in every single set and we never let a moment or set define us, which I think we struggled with last night," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud.
 
The Eagles protected their home floor with ease in the first set, swinging .333 with 19 kills and only six errors. After falling behind 7-2 early, the Eagles fired off 11-straight points to take a 13-7 lead. It was all Eastern Washington from there, as they closed the set on a 6-2 run to take the opening frame 25-16 and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Eastern Washington improved its hitting percentage in the second frame, hitting .387 with 16 kills and only four errors. An early 5-0 run helped the Eagles jump out to a 10-3 lead. Eastern never trailed in the second set as a 3-0 run helped them extend the advantage to 20-13 later in the set en route to the 25-18 set two victory.
 
Montana found its footing in the third set and weren't ready to head back to Missoula just yet. The Grizzlies opened up a 9-4 lead that would eventually extend to 18-14. The Eagles continued to chip away at their deficit and kill from Nicoletta Capizzi evened the match 20-20. Eastern was able to stay within a point and Ashlyn Blotzer hammered down a kill to keep the Eagles alive, but Montana maintained its advantage and won 25-23.
 
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair with neither side able to breakaway until Montana pulled ahead 14-11. Down 18-14, back-to-back kills from Capizzi and an ace from Zandona tied the set 18-18. Montana inched ahead, 22-21, and then closed the set on a 3-0 run to win 25-21 and send the match to a fifth and final set.
 
Eastern Washington used back-to-back kills from Capizzi and Alisha Straw to lead 5-4 in the fifth set before the Grizzlies fired off three-straight kills to lead 7-5. That's when the Eagles found their momentum, rattling off a 6-0 run to pull ahead 11-7. From there, the teams went point-for-point, but Montana could never erase the deficit. Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala would deliver the match-winning kill as the Eagles claimed set five 15-11 and the match 3-2.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the win, the Eagles improve to 6-20 overall and 4-9 in Big Sky Conference play. Montana falls to 5-20 and 3-10 in conference action.
 
The win snaps a four-match losing streak to the Grizzlies and Eastern's first since Sept. 21, 2017.
 
Eastern Washington and Montana split the season meetings, as the Eagles fell at Montana 3-0 on Oct. 3. The series history now moves to 37-43 all-time in UM's favor.
 
Five of Eastern's wins this season have now come in five sets as the Eagles are 5-1 on the year when going the distance.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Four Eagles collected kills into the double digits, all of which were career-highs. Ashlyn Blotzer led the way with a career-high 18 kills. The sophomore hit .378 on the night with only four errors on 37 tries. She also led the team with two blocks.
 
A trio of freshmen followed with new career bests, as Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala and Málie McClure turned in 15 and 14 kills, respectively, while Nicoletta Capizzi added 13.
 
McClure also earned the first double-double of her career with 17 digs, which is also a career best.
 
Ana Paula Zandona was the other Eagle to garner a double-double. She set a new career-high with 58 assists and totaled 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. She also led the Eagles with two service aces.
 
ShaRae Niu also had two aces to go with 10 digs. Catelyn Linke led the team with 21 digs, while Puaoolelagi Sao was the fourth Eagle to total double digit digs with 12.
 
KEY STATISTICS: As a team, the Eagles set a new season-high with 72 kills. They only had 23 errors on 182 attempts to hit .269 on the night. They out-hit Montana, as the Grizzlies swung .225 with 56 kills, 18 errors and 169 total attempts.
 
While the Eagles were out-blocked 12-to-2, they had more aces (7-to-5), digs (79-to-78) and assists (65-to-55).
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington will take its winning streak on the road at Idaho this Tuesday (Nov. 12) with first serve set for 6 p.m. in Moscow. The Eagles will be back at Reese Court one final time on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 4:05 p.m. when they host Northern Colorado.