The Eastern Washington University volleyball team traveled to Northern Colorado today (Oct. 16), facing one of the Big Sky Conference's top teams. The Eagles fell 3-0 (18-25, 18-25, 20-25), and drop to 7-9 overall with a 3-5 league mark.
 
"This afternoon didn't go quite as planned. We needed to do a better job of executing on our side. We had a few stints of being in rhythm, and when we were good, things were happening," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala did a wonderful job. She helped us all around in serving, attacking, blocking and serve receive."
 
Both squads were neck-and-neck to open up the first set, as the teams were locked in at 11-11 after kills from Keala and Sage Brustad. The Eagles trailed by just two, 16-14, when Northern Colorado pulled away, using a 7-1 run to lead 23-15. Facing set point, 24-15, the Eagles fought it off twice thanks to a Bear error and kill from Keala, but UNC went on to win, 25-18.
 
Eastern Washington jumped out a 4-2 lead in set two, before the Bears grew a 12-6 lead. A quick 3-0 spurt that was capped by a Maya McClellan and Ashlyn Blotzer block cut EWU's deficit to three points, 16-13, midway through the set. Another 3-0 scoring run consisting of consecutive kills from Brustad and Blotzer plus a Noa Torio service ace made it an 18-16 game, advantage UNC. From there, the Bears found momentum on a 7-2 run to close out the set, 25-18, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Northern Colorado led 11-4 in the third set before committing three-straight errors to help the Eagles pull within four points, 11-7. EWU kept things close once more on a 4-1 spurt to come within distance, 14-11. Down 21-14, two block assists from McClellan and Blotzer, plus a Keala service ace, highlighted a 4-0 run and the Eagles were back in the match, 21-18. UNC managed to pull away, finding match point 24-19, but a kill from Blotzer kept the Eagles alive. However, the Bears found the final kill to put the match away, 25-20, and win 3-0.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington falls to 7-9, 3-5, while Northern Colorado improves to 15-4, 7-1.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala led the team in nearly all facets, including kills (6), digs (10), hitting percentage (.313), and aces (1).
 
Sage Brustad also had six kills and five digs, plus a block assists. Lindsey Russell finished with 13 assists and seven digs, plus two block assists. Both Ashlyn Blotzer and Maya McClellan had four block assists and Makenna Collins had 10 digs. Noa Torio added an ace as well.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington was held to .030 with 22 kills and 19 errors on 99 total attempts. Northern Colorado had 46 kills and 18 errors on 117 tries.
 
Eastern was also edged in aces (2-5), blocks (6-7), assists (19-44) and digs (46-51).
 
UP NEXT: The road swing continues with a pair of matches next week. Eastern Washington faces Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho, on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. PT, before traveling to Ogden, Utah, for a matchup at Weber State on Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. PT.