MOSCOW, Idaho – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team wrapped up play at the Idaho Volleyball Classic today (Aug. 31), splitting their final two matches. Eastern fell to UIC 3-1 (27-25, 12-25, 18-25, 16-25) before bouncing back to top Cal Baptist in five sets (17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 15-12) for its first win of the season.
 
GAME ONE VS. UIC:
 
Eastern Washington got off on the right foot and claimed the first set, 27-25, but couldn't keep the momentum and dropped the next three (12-25, 18-25, 16-25).
 
Down 3-2, the Eagles fired off five-straight points to take a 7-3 lead in the opening set. After UIC tied the set back up 8-8, they forged ahead to take the 13-10 lead.
 
Eastern would work to take a 16-15 lead, but found themselves down 19-16 later in the set. That's when Catelyn Linke fired of two consecutive kills to spark a 4-1 Eastern Washington run that tied the set, 20-20.
 
The two teams then traded points, but it was Eastern with the 24-23 advantage. UIC did not go away quietly and fought to keep the set alive 25-25. Another Linke kill and a bad set by UIC helped Eastern put away the set, 27-25, and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The momentum did not carry into the second frame, as the Flames took a 25-12 decision and tied the match, 1-1.
 
"I am excited for us to learn how to play with some discipline," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We have a young team and we need to learn how to maintain discipline when adversity hits."
 
The third set was a game of runs, as UIC used a 4-0 spurt to lead 10-7 only to have Eastern respond with three-straight points to tie the set 10-10 after a MaKenna Davis service ace.
 
After a kill by Ashlyn Blotzer later in the set to take a 13-12 lead, the Flames exploded on an 11-2 scoring run and led 23-15. Facing set point, Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala fired off a kill, but it couldn't propel the Eagle offense as they fell 25-18.
 
The fourth and final set found the teams knotted at 5-5 early until the Flames broke away and took a 12-6 lead. Both teams exchanged points, but the Eagles could never erase the early deficit. Once again facing set point, Keala came up with a final-effort kill, but the Eagles dropped the fourth set 25-16 and the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: EWU falls to 0-2 with the loss while UIC improves to a perfect 3-0.
 
Today marked the first time the teams had met since Sept. 11, 1992 when Eastern Washington won 3-2. The series is now tied 1-1
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Flames hit at a .339 clip with 57 kills and 17 errors on 118 attempts while the Eagles swung .103 with 35 kills and 23 errors on 117 attempts.
 
Eastern Washington served up five service aces to UIC's three. However, the Eagles were out-blocked six to four and collected 42 digs to the Flames' 48.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Catelyn Linke collected her second-straight double double, the eighth of her career, with a team-leading 13 kills and 11 digs.
 
Ana Paula Zandona also had a double double for the Eagles, the first of her career, with a team-high 27 assists to go with 10 digs in her first career start.
 
Málie McClure also collected a career-high 11 digs to lead the team while Keala had seven kills and three blocks. Ashlyn Blotzer led the team with five service aces. Nicoletta Capizzi also had three blocks to go with six kills.
 
GAME TWO VS. CAL BAPTIST
 
The Eagles didn't stay down for long after dropping the first set 25-17.
 
The second set was a back-and-forth battle. A strike from Alisha Straw tied the set at 14-14 and both teams would spend the next several plays exchanging kills. The Eagles capitalized on two Lancer errors and started to pull ahead, 22-20. After the Lancers threatened, Straw was there again with a kill to put EWU back up 23-21.
 
Freshman Málie McClure was steady under pressure, hammering down two consecutive kills to give the Eagles the set-winning points as they took the 25-23 victory and tied the match 1-1.
 
With the third set tied 8-8, Ashlyn Blotzer sparked a 3-0 run that was capped by her own service ace to give Eastern an 11-8 lead. The Eagles then capitalized on four-straight points to lead 15-10. The Lancers didn't back down quietly and eventually tied the set 18-18 and took a brief 20-19 lead.
 
That's when a kill from Catelyn Linke sparked a 4-0 scoring run to put Eastern up by three, 23-20. A kill from Linke gave Eastern set point and after the Lancers responded with a kill, Straw was there to hammer down the set-winning score. The Eagles took set three 25-23 and a 2-1 lead in the match. Eastern Washington hit .250 in the third set with 15 kills.
 
The Eagles lost momentum in the crucial fourth set, falling 25-15 which sent the match into the fifth and final set.

Eastern Washington showed confidence, opening up an 8-3 lead as the teams switched sides. The Lancers then capitalized on three-straight Eagle errors on a 4-0 run to cut their deficit to two points, 9-7.
 
A kill from Ana Paula Zandona put Eastern back up 11-8, but Cal Baptist was there again with three-straight points to tie the set, 11-11. A 3-0 scoring run, that included two kills from Zandona and an ace from Blotzer, put EWU back up 14-11.
 
The Lancers threw down a kill in a last-ditch effort, but Linke had the final say with her 14^th kill of the match that sealed the 15-12 victory for the Eagles.

"One of the things that we've been talking about is discipline and consistency. It was nice to see them go back to the basics and go back to communicating during, before and after the play," said head coach Flores-Cloud. "We allowed ourselves to do our job and I'm happy they were able to come back in set five and win."
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: The victory marked the first of the season for Eastern Washington who is now 1-2 on the year. Cal Baptist falls to 0-3 on the season.
 
The matchup was the first between the two programs as this is only Cal Baptist's second-year as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Catelyn Linke finished the match with her third-straight double double, the ninth of her career. She led the team with 14 kills and also added 12 digs and an ace.
 
Alisha Straw turned in her first double double as an Eagle, finishing with 13 kills and 13 digs.
 
Ana Paula Zandona turned in 43 assists, eight digs, seven kills, four service aces and was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao led the Eagles with 15 digs and Nicoletta Capizzi added four blocks. Ashlyn Blotzer had three service aces.
 
Málie McClure had a career-high eight kills to go with 10 digs.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles swung at a .183 clip with 57 kills and 23 errors on 186 attempts. Cal Baptist hit .243 with 60 kills and only 19 errors on 169 tries.
 
Eastern Washington turned in 10 service aces, the most in a match since Aug. 25, 2018 against UC Riverside. They also had 70 digs and six blocks.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Junior Ana Paula Zandona was named to the Idaho Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team. She appeared in 12 sets over three matches and totaled 82 assists, good for 6.8 per set. She notched assists into the double digits in all three matches, including a high of 43 against Cal Baptist.
 
Also against Cal Baptist, she had a near-triple double with seven kills and eight digs to go with four service aces.
 
Against UIC, Zandona turned in her first double double of her career with 27 assists and 10 digs. She averaged 1.91 digs and .75 kills over the weekend as well.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles head to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Tournament next weekend. Action begins on Sept. 6 against Milwaukee and hosts Drake before capping competition on Sept. 7 against Saint Louis.
 
MORE COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH FLORES-CLOUD:
 
On Catelyn Linke's Play: "Catelyn Linke is the leader of our team. Although Ana Paula Zandona was named to the All-Tournament team, Catelyn really led us offensively. Her composure was unmistakably our captain."
 
"I'm so proud of Catelyn and her leadership, I'm looking forward to her continuing to lead our team."
 
On Ana Paula Zandona's and the Newcomer's Play: "We have other hitters on our sideline, but Málie McClure and Ana Paula Zandona did a great job communicating with and for each other. Our serve receive team of Málie, Puaoolelagi Sao and Catelyn were consistent together."
 
On Looking Forward to Next Week: "We're excited to continue getting better. We're such a young team. We had seven girls that played their first weekend of Division I volleyball and together and they really did a great job. They stepped up, learned and caught on quick."