MATCH NOTES

CHENEY, Wash. – The fourth and final week of non-conference play has arrived for the Eastern Washington University volleyball team. The Eagles fly to Grand Forks, N.D., for the UND Classic this Thursday and Friday (Sept. 19-20).
 
Eastern opens play against the hosts North Dakota on Thursday at 5 p.m. Pacific time. Competition closes on Friday against Akron at 8 a.m. and Lamar at 3 p.m. PT.
 
HOW TO WATCH: Only Eastern Washington's match against North Dakota will be streamed. The match will be available on Fox Sports or by visiting FoxSportsGo.com. Fans will need to login to a television provider to watch the match.
 
Live stats for all three matches are available HERE.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 2-8 on the season, recently falling to Grand Canyon, San Diego State and UC Riverside at the GCU Invitational this past weekend.
 
As a team, the Eagles rank in the top-100 nationally in total aces (40^th, 61), aces per set (63^rd, 1.65), total attacks (75^th, 1,294) and total digs (90^th, 534).
 
They hit at a .113 clip with 10.1 kills and 14.4 digs per set.
 
Offensively, Nicoletta Capizzi leads the team with 1.84 kills per set while hitting at a .273 efficiency. Ashlyn Blotzer follows with 1.65 kills per set. Blotzer also leads the team with 14 aces, which is 78^th nationally, and .65 blocks per set.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao records an impressive 4.49 digs per set which ranks her fifth in the Big Sky and 86^th in the nation. Her 166 total digs rank 52^nd across Division I.
 
Ana Paula Zandona leads the way with 7.22 assists per set, good for 260 on the year.
 
A LOOK AT THE FIGHTING HAWKS: North Dakota competes in The Summit League and is 7-5 on the season. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Comfort Inn Fuquay Invitational where they beat The Citadel (3-1) and South Carolina State (3-0) but fell to Campbell (3-0).
 
Offensively, UND is led by Ashley Brueqqeman who averages 3.05 kills per set with a .302 hitting percentage. Peyton Sewell handles most of the setting duties with 5.41 assists per set while McKenzie Damon leads the team with 21 aces.
 
Lydia Rutten averages 1.09 blocks per set while Darian Chwialkowski averages 2.51 digs per set.
 
As a team, the Fighting Hawks swing .207 with 11.1 kills per set. They also add 1.48 service aces, 10.2 assists, 2.22 blocks and 14.16 digs per set.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The history between the Eagles and the Fighting Hawks dates back to 2012 when North Dakota was a member of the Big Sky Conference. Eastern Washington is just 1-12 all-time against UND, with the lone win coming on Sept. 24, 2015 in three sets in Cheney.
 
The Eagles last faced the Fighting Hawks in a non-conference battle in 2018 where Eastern lost in straight sets in Grand Forks.
 
A LOOK AT THE ZIPS: The Akron Zips are 5-4 on the season and are currently on a three-match winning streak. They recently hosted a home tournament where they beat St. Francis (PA), Eastern Kentucky and Seton Hall in three sets.
 
The Eagles and the Zips have one opponent in common this season in San Diego State. Akron lost to SDSU to open the season, 3-0, while EWU fell to the Aztecs this past weekend, 3-1.
 
Akron has a hitting percentage of .164 and averages 11.4 kills per set. They allow their opponents to hit .205 and average 12.2 kills per set.
 
They also add 11.0 assists, 1.4 aces, 16.2 digs and 1.7 blocks per set. They have three players that average over two kills per set.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington and Akron have met one time previously. Last season, the Eagles topped the Zips 3-1 during the opening weekend of the season in Riverside, Calif.
 
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Lamar is 5-5 overall this season and went 1-2 over the weekend at the New Mexico State Invitational. They lost to Portland and New Mexico State by scores of 3-1, but beat Grambling State in straight sets.
 
As a unit, they hit .182 with 12.5 kills per set and hold their opponents to a .196 clip and 11.4 kills per set. They have 62 aces on the year, good for 1.7 per set and also add 1.5 blocks and 14.9 digs.
 
They have four players that average over two kills per set, led by Abigale Nash with 3.79. Nash also adds 3.71 digs per set, behind Erin Pequeno who adds 4.53 digs.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Friday afternoon marks the second all-time meeting between the Cardinals and the Eagles. Eastern Washington beat Lamar in straight sets back on Aug. 26, 2016 in Starkville, Miss.
 
The Eagles are 5-2 all-time against opponents from the Southland Conference.
 
UP NEXT: After playing their first 13 matches of the season on the road, the Eagles finally play at Reese Court next week. The home, and Big Sky, opener takes place on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 6:05 p.m. against Sacramento State. The following night, the Eagles welcome Portland State to Cheney with first serve set for 7:05 p.m. for EWU Volleyball Alumni Night.
 
All regular season matches at Reese Court are complimentary to the general public and students. Additionally, all home matches will be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 534 or on WatchBigSky.com. Live stats for all home matches can be found on EWUStats.com