DES MOINES, Iowa –  It took five sets, but the Eastern Washington University volleyball team officially has a winning streak after topping Milwaukee today (Sept. 6) in five sets (14-25, 26-24, 13-25, 25-22, 15-13) to open the Drake Invitational.
 
It marked the second-straight win for the Eagles who now move to 2-2 on the season, and 2-0 in five-set matches. Eastern Washington had three players reach the double-digit kill mark and four total double-digit digs, led by Alisha Straw and MaKenna Davis who had double-doubles.
 
"I'm really excited about our match today against a good Milwaukee team," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We did some really good things offensively and we were serving well. Málie McClure had three services aces to start us off and Alisha Straw stepped up for us offensively, she did a great job. In the last game, we had a balanced offense and that was all Ana Paula Zandona."
 
It took Eastern Washington a bit to get settled, as they dropped the opening set 25-14.
 
The Eagles busted open in the second set, hitting .231 with 13 kills and only four errors on 39 tries. With the frame tied 8-8, a kill from Ashlyn Blotzer sparked a 4-0 EWU run to give them a 12-8 lead. Later in the set, a Davis kill sparked another 4-0 spurt to give Eastern its largest lead of the set, 19-14.
 
Milwaukee didn't back down, as the Panthers clawed back to tie the set 21-21. The Eagles stayed collected and faced set-point with a 24-22 lead when MKE tied it back up, 24-24. Eastern Washington called timeout, and Blotzer and Davis emerged with back-to-back kills to give Eastern a 26-24 victory to tie the game 1-1.
 
The momentum did not carry into the third set, as the Panthers claimed the third frame 25-13.
 
The Eagles jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth set thanks to an early 5-0 run that included two kills from Straw and Blotzer. Although the Panthers worked to come back, it was Eastern Washington who held the advantage through the majority of the set, always leading by at least three points. That was until the Panthers cut a 19-14 EWU lead to 19-18 and forced a timeout.
 
Both teams traded points following the timeout until Eastern Washington built a 24-21 lead. Ana Paula Zandona was able to contribute the game-winning kill to give Eastern the 25-22 set four victory to send the match into set five.
 
Eastern held nothing back to open the fifth set, firing off seven-straight points to lead 11-3. That's when Milwaukee fired back with a 9-2 scoring run to cut Eastern's lead to 13-12. A kill from Nicoletta Capizzi gave Eastern a 14-12 lead only for MKE to respond once more. Milwaukee committed an attack error to give Eastern a 15-13 set five victory and their second-straight win.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington now moves to an even 2-2 on the season following the victory. The win also spoils Milwaukee's undefeated record as they now move to 3-1.
 
Today marked the first all-time meeting between the two programs and Eastern Washington is now 5-1 all-time against Horizon League opponents.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Alisha Straw led the Eagles with a career-best 15 kills and also had 18 digs for her second-straight double-double. She also hit .227 with only five errors on 44 attempts.
 
Ashlyn Blotzer followed with a new career-high of 11 kills and also led the team with five blocks. She swung .222 with only five errors on 27 attempts.
 
MaKenna Davis turned in her first double-double of the season, the fourth of her career, with a season-high 10 kills and 12 digs.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao led the team with a season-high 22 digs while Ana Paula Zandona led the team with 40 assists.
 
Málie McClure served up a career-high of three aces to lead the team and also had a career-best 16 digs.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Milwaukee had a better hitting percentage than Eastern, swinging .156 to EWU's .063. The Panthers also had 55 kills compared to Eastern's 48, nine service aces to Eastern's six and 12 blocks to Eastern's seven.
 
Eastern had more digs (83) than Milwaukee (73).
 
As a team, the Eagles set new season highs in total blocks (7) and digs (83).
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles look to make it three wins in a row when the Drake Invitational continues this evening (Sept. 6). Eastern Washington takes on the hosts, Drake, at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

The Drake Invitational concludes tomorrow (Sept. 7) at noon PT when Eastern takes on Saint Louis.
 
There is no stream for either matches. Live stats will be available for both matches via the link HERE.