For the first time since the 2016 season, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team is leaving Moscow, Idaho, with a victory. The Eagles took on the Vandals tonight (Oct. 14) and won in five sets (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 28-30, 15-11) to improve to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky Conference play.
 
Sage Brustad and Lindsey Russell each picked up their third double-doubles of conference action, with Brustad collecting 18 kills and 13 digs and Russell had 48 assists and 11 digs. Maya McClellan served a career-best six aces, which is tied for fourth all-time for aces in a five-set match at Eastern Washington, while adding 15 kills and eight digs.
 
All three of Eastern's victories in Big Sky play this season have come in five sets, improving to 3-0 when matches go the distance. Eastern had 15 aces, which is 10^th all-time in a five-set match, and out-blocked the Vandals 14-to-9 in tonight's effort.
 
"Offensively, we were doing some nice things. Sage Brustad put up some great numbers tonight and played very well, and Lindsey Russell had a double-double, too. Maya McClellan was serving so tough tonight as well," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "As a team, we did a nice job blocking. I was proud of our serving, we had 15 aces and that was part of our game plan. Now, we need to go back to the drawing board. There are a few things we need to work on before we go play a tough Northern Colorado team, but I'm excited about the win tonight and ready to hit the road."
 
Trailing 10-7 in the opening set, Eastern Washington used an 8-0 run behind the serve of Makenna Collins to take a 15-10 lead. The Eagles never trailed from there, using another 4-0 spurt late in the set to secure a 25-18 opening set victory.
 
The second set had six ties, but the Vandals jumped out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed. The Eagles were down 15-11 when a 4-0 run tied the set at 15-15 and the teams were also locked at 18-18. Idaho looked to put the set away, leading 23-20 before a kill from McClellan sparked a 3-0 run for the Eagles and things moved into a 23-23 tie. However, UI found the final two points and hung on for the 25-23 win.
 
It was the Eagles who never trailed in the third set, as they hit .375 with 16 kills and only four errors on 32 attempts en route to the 25-20 bounce-back victory for EWU. A large 9-3 scoring run down the stretch helped secure the win.
 
Set four would need extra points to be settled, and the crucial fourth set saw 19 ties and 10 lead changes in all. The Vandals led 14-10 at one point before the Eagles quickly moved things into a 16-16 deadlock. After a 4-0 run, Idaho led 23-20 and Eastern Washington called a timeout. Out of the break, McClellan fired off consecutive kills to cut the lead to a point, 23-22, before UI used a timeout. McClellan was there again with another kill, but Idaho would find set point, 24-23. However, who else but McClellan would be there to keep things alive with another kill, keeping the Eagles alive at 24-24.
 
Eastern Washington had set point three times but the Vandals continued to fight it off and the set moved into a 28-28 tie. That's when Idaho found a kill and a solo block from Nicole Ball and hung on to win 30-28.
 
It was all Eastern Washington in the fifth and final set, jumping out to a 5-2 lead that stretched to 10-7 and then 14-8. Idaho threatened, fighting off match point three-straight times, but McKenna Russell delivered the game-winner and the Eagles topped Idaho 15-8 and 3-2 to win the match.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the victory, Eastern Washington wins its second-straight match to improve to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play. Idaho drops to 3-14 and 0-8.
 
The Eagles win their second-straight over Idaho after losing eight-straight from Oct. 15, 2016 to March 13, 2021. The last win in Moscow was also on Oct. 15, 2016, which was a five-set victory as well. The win also marks the 10^th-ever in Moscow for the Eagles, improving to 10-21 overall.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Sage Brustad hit .279 tonight with 18 kills and 13 digs for her third double-double of the season. She also finished with an ace and a block solo.
 
Maya McClellan nearly had a triple-double, with 15 kills, six aces and eight digs. The six aces tie for fourth all-time in a five-set match at Eastern Washington and are the most since Catelyn Linke had six at Sacramento State on Nov. 2, 2019. McClellan also added two block assists.
 
Lindsey Russell also had her third double-double of the year, leading the way with 48 assists and adding 11 digs, two block assists and an ace.
 
McKenna Russell hit .261 with nine kills and only three errors on 23 total attempts. She would finish with a team-high seven block assists to go with three service aces.
 
Ehu Keala also came just short of a double-double with eight kills and 12 digs while adding two aces and four block assists. Ashlyn Blotzer also had eight kills, while Makenna Collins finished with a team-high 14 digs, two aces, and six assists.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington set a season-high 15 aces, which is the 10^th-most in a five-set match in single game history. They also out-blocked Idaho, 14-to-9.
 
Eastern hit .200 on the night with 59 kills and 27 errors on 160 total attempts. Idaho swung .220 with 61 kills and 24 errors on 168 total tries. Both teams were exactly even with 56 assists and 66 digs each.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington hits the road to play at Northern Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. Pacific time in Greeley, Colo. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.