OGDEN, Utah – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team opened the 2021 spring season this evening (Jan. 22) at Weber State where they fell by a score of 3-1 in Ogden, Utah. The Eagles jumped out and claimed the first set, 25-18, but dropped the next three (15-25, 21-25, 10-25) in the season-opening loss.
 
Five players made their Eastern Washington debuts, including redshirt-sophomore Maya McClellan who led the team with 11 kills.
 
"We did some good things and came out gunning for them. We have to do better in the serve and pass game," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "One of the things we talked about tonight was how we did a phenomenal job communicating to our teammates. I want to give kudos to our bench and the culture change that we have this season, it's remarkably different."
 
A 4-0 run helped the Eagles leap to a 6-1 lead in the first set. After both sides settled in, Weber State used a 4-0 run of its own to take a 9-8 lead. A kill from McClellan sparked three quick points by the Eagles who retook the 11-9 lead. Later in the set, Eastern Washington used another 4-0 run to pull ahead with a 21-14 advantage and it was all EWU from there, as a service ace by McClellan helped seal the first-set victory, 25-18.
 
Set two began as a back-and-forth battle and the teams found themselves tied 8-8. Weber State then went on a 11-3 run and would take set two 25-15 and even the match.
 
Eastern Washington's best set came in the third game, as they collected 13 kills on 32 attempts with only six errors to swing at a .219 clip. Trailing 7-4, McClellan earned back-to-back kills that sparked a 4-0 run and helped the Eagles take an 8-7 lead. Weber State would regain momentum, but Eastern Washington kept it close until four-straight points from the Wildcats helped them pull ahead 20-14. The Eagles would come back within two points, 21-19, and fought off set point twice thanks to back-to-back kills from Ashlyn Blotzer and Katie Fleck, but they were edged 25-21 as Weber State took a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
It was all Weber State in the fourth and final set, as the Wildcats used a 12-3 run to win 25-10 and take the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Tonight's match marked both the season and Big Sky Conference openers for both sides. Eastern Washington is 0-1 and Weber State started the season 1-0.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Redshirt-sophomore Maya McClellan led the Eagles with 11 kills in her Eagle debut. She also recorded a service ace and seven digs.
 
Ashlyn Blotzer and Katie Fleck each added seven kills. The duo also had three and two blocks, respectively.
 
Ana Paula Zandona and Lindsey Russell split the setting duties, with Zandona dishing 16 assists and Russell adding 10.
 
Catelyn Linke (14) and Puaoolelagi Sao (10) each recorded double-digit digs. Renata Lopez Morales led the team with four blocks.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington hit .081 on the night with 38 kills and 28 errors on 123 total attempts. The Wildcats swung .248 with 44 kills and just 16 errors on 113 attempts.
 
Both teams found success at the net, with EWU recording eight blocks to Weber State's 11. The Wildcats had eight aces while the Eagles had two, and both teams were nearly even in digs with Eastern recording 41 and Weber State totaling 42.
 
MAKING HISTORY: After recording 14 digs tonight, Catelyn Linke needs just 15 digs to crack EWU's all-time digs list. The senior has 957 career digs and is also just 28 away from ninth place and needs 43 more to become the ninth member of Eastern Washington's 1,000 digs club.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao climbed up in the record books as well. After recording 10 digs this evening, she now has 779 career digs.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington and Weber State face off again tomorrow (Jan. 23) in Ogden, Utah. First serve is set for 3 p.m. Pacific time on Pluto TV Ch. 1054.
 
MORE FROM COACH FLORES-CLOUD:
 
On the Newcomers Performance: "I was very happy with our newcomers tonight. I was pleased that a lot of them got in the match and got opportunities to showcase what they have been working really hard on."
 
On Finally Playing a Match for the First Time in Over a Year: "I'm so thankful and our players will echo that. Having some normalcy has been wonderful for them."
 
On Playing Weber Again Tomorrow: "I'm really excited. We've been training hard and our strength and conditioning staff have been amazing in getting our players ready for battle. I'm excited to go in to tomorrow's match knowing that our girls are still going to be jumping as high as they have been. Even though we're playing back-to-back, I don't think that's going to phase us and that's because of our strength and conditioning staff at Eastern."