MATCH NOTES

CHENEY, Wash. – After nearly three weeks of preseason preparation, the 2019 Eastern Washington University volleyball team begins match play this weekend at the Idaho Volleyball Classic in nearby Moscow, Idaho.
 
The two-day tournament begins on Aug. 30 when the Eagles clash with Cal State Fullerton at 12:30 p.m. Tournament play closes on Aug. 31 with competition against UIC at 10 a.m. and Cal Baptist at 4:30 p.m.
 
HOW TO WATCH: All three matches will be streamed for free on WatchBigSky.com in addition to live stats HERE. Fans can follow @EWUVB on Twitter for live, in-game updates and video highlights.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: The Eagles are led by second year head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. The 2019 edition of Eagle volleyball includes six returners and reloaded with 10 newcomers during the offseason.
 
Kamille Langford led the Eagles in both kills (2.11) and blocks (.75) per set in 2018 and is among three returning starters. Juniors Catelyn Linke and MaKenna Davis also return as starters. Linke recorded four double-doubles last year while Davis led the team in service aces. Puaoolelagi Sao moved into the libero spot permanently once Big Sky play began and led the team with 4.04 digs per set, which was 10^th in the conference.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: This is the eighth all-time meeting between the Eagles and Cal State Fullerton, with Eastern trailing the all-time series 3-4.
 
All seven previous matchups have taken place at a neutral site. Eastern Washington and the Titans last faced off on Sept. 2, 2016 where the Eagles won in straight sets.
 
The Flames and the Eagles have met once back on Sept, 11, 1992 in Houston, Texas. Eastern Washington picked up the 3-2 victory.
 
EWU and Cal Baptist are meeting for the first time in program history. The Eagles are 6-7 all-time against teams from the Western Athletic Conference.
 
SCOUTING THE TITANS: Cal State Fullerton is coming off of a season that saw them finish 6-24 overall with an 0-16 mark in Big West Conference play.
 
The Titans played UC San Diego in an exhibition match on Aug. 24 and walked away with a 3-1 victory. Head coach Ashley Preston welcomes six newcomers in all and returns outside hitter Felicia Marshall who led the team with 269 kills last year.
 
SCOUTING THE FLAMES: UIC boasted an 18-13 overall record last season including a 10-6 mark in Horizon League play, advancing to the second round of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship.
 
Justin Ingram enters his third season at the helm as the Flames return a bulk of their players from last season, only losing three letterwinners while returning 14 in addition to one newcomer.
 
SCOUTING THE LANCERS: Cal State Baptist is entering its second year at NCAA Division I level after an impressive debut season last year where the Lancers finished 21-11 overall and qualified for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
 
The Lancers return 11 players from last season, five of which are starters, including Tesa Oaks and Natalie Zimmerer who were named to the Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference team. Oaks led the team with 3.49 kills per set while Zimmerer led the WAC with 10.44 assists per set. CBU was selected to finish fourth overall in the WAC this season.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: Eastern Washington takes a trip to the Midwest for the Drake Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 6-7. It marks Flores-Cloud's first return trip to Drake where she served as an assistant and associate head coach for five seasons before coming to Eastern.
 
The Eagles face Milwaukee and hosts Drake on the opening day of play before closing with Saint Louis the following day.
 
NEW EAGLES: Flores-Cloud and her staff hit the recruiting trail hard and it paid off, as the Eagles welcome 10 new additions to the 2019 roster.
 
The newly minted Eagles are comprised of four transfers and six true freshmen that hail from Washington, California, Arizona, Hawai'i, Brazil and Mexico. All will be eligible to compete immediately and bring size and depth to the 2019 squad.
 
Transfers include sophomore middle blocker and right side Ashlyn Blotzer (Corona, Calif/Santiago HS/UC Riverside), junior outside hitter and middle blocker Hailee Etter (Spokane, Wash./Shadle Park HS/North Idaho), redshirt-junior outside hitter Alisha Straw (Spokane, Wash./Freeman HS/Spokane CC) and junior setter Ana Paula Zandona (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Trinity Valley CC).
 
The six true freshmen are middle blocker Nicoletta Capizzi (La Verne, Calif./Bonita HS), setter and defensive specialist Emily Johnson (Washougal, Wash./Washougal HS), right side and middle blocker Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Mid-Pacific Institute), outside hitter and middle blocker Renata Lopez Morales (Guadalajara, Mexico/Insituto de Ciencias), right side and setter Leah McAdams (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) and defensive specialist Mālie McClure (Kane'oha, Hawai'i/Kamehameha HS).