For the fourth time in Big Sky Conference play, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team has picked up a five-set victory. The Eagles traveled to Pocatello, Idaho, for a match against Idaho State, winning 3-2 (25-16, 18-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12) on Thursday night (Oct. 21). With the win, the Eagles improve to 8-9 overall and 4-5 in conference action.
 
Eastern Washington had an impressive stat line overall, but it was Maya McClellan who shined. The senior tallied eight service aces, which tied for the program record for aces in a five-set match and is tied for the second-most overall in any match. It was the most aces in a five-set match for EWU since 1986. This comes one week after she had six aces at Idaho, which tied for fourth all-time. McClellan also added 20 kills and hit .308 on the night with seven digs and two blocks.
 
"Maya McClellan was setting the tone for our team and leading us offensively. She did a wonderful job for us, and we were able to go hard behind her," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "The Big Sky is getting better and better every year. I think that the five set wins that we've had on the road and at home have been because the conference is getting better and better. It was an awesome win tonight. Idaho State did a wonderful job, they out-blocked us and they out-dug us. Tonight, we put it together in our sideout percentage and we came together from the serving line. We did a phenomenal job of attacking. Offensively, we talked about being efficient and we were able to do that tonight. We had two sets where we need to clean up things, and we were able to do that in sets four and five."
 
The Eagles are now 4-0 in conference play when matches go the distance, and are 5-1 on the season. The victory is the second-straight over the Bengals in Pocatello, as Idaho State falls to 6-15 and 2-7 on the year.
 
Eastern Washington jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the opening set after a 3-0 run and never looked back, as an Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala service ace gave EWU an 8-4 lead in the early goings. The Bengals would cut the lead to 11-9, but a block by Sage Brustad and Ashlyn Blotzer gave Eastern Washington a 14-10 lead that would stretch to 15-10 after a Brustad kill for a 3-0 run. Idaho State called for a timeout after the Eagles pulled ahead, 18-12. EWU would cruise from there, as a McClellan and McKenna Russell block put the Eagles up 23-16. McClellan then closed out the set with back-to-back aces, giving Eastern the 25-16 win. Brustad hit .714 in the frame with five kills and no errors, and the Eagles outhit the Bengals .357 to .033.
 
It was all Idaho State in set two after an early 7-3 lead that would eventually stretch to 16-6. The Eagles did find a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 23-18 and force a Bengal timeout, but ISU collected the final two points to even the match, 1-1, with a 25-18 win.
 
The third set saw 13 ties and five lead changes, and it would go Idaho State's way in the back-and-forth affair. EWU used a 3-0 run with a kill and an ace from McClellan before the set moved in to a 5-5 tie. A 4-0 run would give Eastern its lead back, 8-5, but ISU would tie the set right back up. The teams went back-and-forth before the Bengals led 19-17. The lead was short-lived, as Blotzer would find consecutive kills for the 19-19 tie. From there, the teams were knotted at 21-21 before Idaho State pulled ahead 23-22, forcing an Eagle timeout. The Bengals pulled ahead 24-22 before Renata Lopez Morales fought off set point with the kill. However, the Bengals found the final point and won 25-23, taking the 2-1 lead.
 
Set four was just as close with 11 ties and three lead changes, but would end in Eastern Washington's favor. The set was locked at 5-5, 7-7, 9-9, and 14-14. EWU would break away on consecutive blocks from Keala and McClellan. The lead would then stretch to 19-16 after Keala and McClellan stepped up again, this time with back-to-back kills that forced an ISU timeout. Out of the break, Brustad would deliver two-straight aces for the 21-16 lead. Eastern Washington would close set four on a 3-0 run and Blotzer would deliver the game-winner, as EWU forced set five with a 25-18 win.
 
Eastern Washington surged to a 7-2 lead in the crucial fifth set, and McClellan's eighth ace of the night gave Eastern Washington a 10-4 lead following a 3-0 run. The Bengals would not go down easily, using a 4-0 run to cut EWU's lead down to 11-7. The Eagles stayed calm and looked to put the set away with a 14-9 lead, but ISU had other plans, as they fought off set point three times to force an EWU timeout. Out of the break, Lindsey Russell delivered a kill on a setter's dump and the Eagles won 15-12 and took the match 3-2.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: After a win in a crucial match in the conference standings, Eastern Washington improves to 8-9 overall with a 4-5 mark in Big Sky play. Idaho State is now 6-15 and 2-7.
 
This marks the second-straight win over the Bengals in Pocatello, improving the all-time series record to 42-37 overall and 18-21 on the road.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Maya McClellan led all players with 20 kills. She hit .308 on the night with just four errors on 52 total attempts. In addition to eight aces, she had seven digs and two blocks.
 
Ashlyn Blotzer was the other Eagle in double-digit kills with 11. She hit .381 with three errors on 21 total attempts while leading the way with five blocks.
 
Lindsey Russell dished 52 aces to lead the Eagles, and Makenna Collins had a career-high 24 digs. Sage Brustad, who finished with seven kills, also had double-digit digs with 11 plus two aces, followed by Noa Torio with 10 digs.
 
Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala had two aces, seven digs, five kills and three blocks.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington had 58 kills, 26 errors and 164 total attempts to hit .195 on the night. Idaho State hit .215 with 53 kills and 21 errors on 149 total tries.
 
Eastern Washington had 13 aces to ISU's three, and 53 assists to their 50, but were out-blocked (11-10) and out-dug (75-70).
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington heads to first-place Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 23. The Wildcats are 9-0 in Big Sky Conference play with a 22-match home winning streak after topping Idaho tonight. First serve is set for 1 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN+.