CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team is preparing for its next challenge at the Grand Canyon Invitational this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 13-14) in Phoenix, Ariz.
 
The Eagles open play against the hosts Grand Canyon with a single match on Friday at 7 p.m. Pacific time. On Saturday, Eastern Washington faces San Diego State at 10 a.m. before closing against UC Riverside at 4:30 p.m.
 
HOW TO WATCH: Only Eastern's match against Grand Canyon will be streamed live on YouTube HERE. Live stats will be available for all three matches on EWUStats.com.
 
Live play-by-play can be found by following @EWUVB on Twitter.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 2-5 on the season, most recently falling to Seattle U in straight sets on Tuesday evening (Sept. 10).
 
As a team, Eastern hits at a .118 efficiency with 10.5 kills per set. They lead the Big Sky Conference with 1.8 service aces per set and have 49 on the year. Additionally, they add 9.7 assists, 14.7 digs and 1.2 blocks per set. The duo also lead the Eagles with 0.59 and 0.52 blocks per set, respectively.
 
They are led by Nicoletta Capizzi who swings 3.06 with 1.93 kills per set. Ashlyn Blotzer averages 1.67 kills per set and also leads the team with 11 service aces, good for 0.41/set.
 
Ana Paula Zandona ranks inside the top-ten in the conference with 7.65 assists per set and is also second on the team with nine service aces.
 
Defensively, Puaoolelagi Sao adds 4.00 digs per set to lead the team and rank sixth in the conference.
 
A LOOK AT THE LOPES: The Grand Canyon Lopes compete in the Western Athletic Conference and have an overall record of 5-1. They are on a two-match win streak, defeating Gonzaga 3-1 and Big Sky foe Montana 3-0 at the Gonzaga Invitational last weekend.
 
As a team, the Lopes swing .255 with 12.4 kills per set and hold their opponents to just .189 with 13.0 kills per set. Defensively, they put up 2.3 blocks and 15.3 digs per frame. They also add 11.3 assists and 1.5 aces.
 
Yeny Murillo paces the Lopes with 3.28 kills per set on .236 efficiency. Klaire Mitchell adds 9.19 assists per set while Teagan DeFalco adds .31 aces per set to go with 4.08 digs.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Friday marks just the second time in program history that Eastern has faced off against Grand Canyon. The one and only meeting came on Sept. 3, 2016 in Phoenix, Ariz., where the Eagles fell in straight sets.
 
This is the third opponent out of the Western Athletic Conference that Eastern has played this year. They topped Cal Baptist on Aug. 31 in five sets but fell to Seattle U on Sept. 10 in three sets. Eastern Washington is 7-8 all-time against WAC opponents.
 
A LOOK AT THE AZTECS: San Diego State has an overall record of 4-2 entering the weekend. They recently hosted a tournament that saw them go 2-1, with five set victories over West Virginia and Arkansas. They fell only to Arizona in straight-sets.
 
The Aztecs have three players that average over two kills per set, led by Victoria O'Sullivan (3.71/set) and Hannah Turnlund (3.21/set). O'Sullivan also swings at a blazing .337 clip.
 
Camryn Machado handles most of the setting duties with 10.92 assists per set. Loren Teter averages 3.50 digs per set.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington and San Diego State have met three times previously, with the Aztecs taking all three meetings. The first clashes came in 1984 and 1986 where the Eagles fell 3-0 and 2-0, respectively.
 
The most recent match between the two came on Sept. 11, 2015 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, where Eastern dropped in straight sets.
 
San Diego State is the first, and only, Mountain West Conference school Eastern Washington has faced this season. The Eagles are 43-53 all-time against Mountain West opponents.
 
A LOOK AT THE HIGHLANDERS: The Highlanders are an even 3-3 on the year after topping Nevada 3-0 but falling to both San Francisco and Purdue Fort Wayne in five sets at the USF Invitational last weekend.
 
UC Riverside averages 14.12 kills per set while hitting .248. They also average 13.0 kills, 1.48 blocks, 1.56 service aces and 15.56 digs per set.
 
The Highlanders have four players that average over two kills per set led by Ashley Dittmann (3.36/set) and Ayla Fresenius (3.33/set). Morgan Kline and Tara Eaton average 3.20 and 3.04 digs per set, respectively.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday marks the fourth all-time meeting between Eastern Washington and UC Riverside.
 
The two teams played each other last season at the UCR Classic where Eastern beat the Highlanders in a thrilling five sets.
 
The other two meetings came in 1987 where Eastern won 3-1 and in 2012 where Eastern lost 3-0.
 
This is the second Big West opponent that Eastern has faced this season as they opened the year with a 3-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton on Aug. 30. Eastern Washington is 20-25 all-time against Big West opponents.
 
UP NEXT: The fourth and final tournament of the season before Eastern Washington hits Big Sky Conference play takes them to the UND Classic, hosted by North Dakota on Sept. 19-20 in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
Competition begins on Thursday against the Fighting Hawks at 5 p.m. Pacific time. Eastern faces off against Akron at 8 a.m. PT and Lamar at 3 p.m. PT on Friday to close the tournament and non-conference play.