The Eastern Washington University volleyball team traveled to Weber State this afternoon (Oct. 23) for a match against the Big Sky Conference's top team. The Eagles lost in straight-sets (16-25, 21-25, 9-25) and fall to 8-10 overall and 4-6 in Big Sky play, while the Wildcats improve to 15-5 and 10-0.
 
Lindsey Russell had a double-double with 24 assists and 14 digs.
 
"Weber State is a great team, and I am proud of our Eagles because we hung with them. The effort we had this afternoon was wonderful. We fought hard, and our seniors in Ashlyn Blotzer and Maya McClellan did a good job. At different points, they gave the team energy to help hold us up," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We had a lot of hitters contribute, too. Renata Lopez Morales stepped in to play outside hitter for us and did a good job getting some blocks with McKenna Russell. Lindsey Russell and Makenna Collins both stood out defensively as well."
 
Eastern Washington had 13 kills to Weber's 14 in the opening set, but committed six more errors which would wind up being the difference. The teams were neck-and-neck, but the Wildcats always had the slight edge, as a 4-1 run helped them pull away early, 10-5. A 3-0 run later in the set made it a 17-10 Weber State advantage, and the Wildcats closed on a 5-1 run to take the opening set 25-16.
 
The Wildcats used a 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead in set two. The lead built to 16-10 and then 22-15. Weber State looked to put the set away, when a kill by Lopez Morales sparked a 3-0 run that made it four-point set, 22-18. The Eagles found two-more consecutive points to stay alive at 23-20, and would fight set-point off once, 24-21, but Weber hung on to find the final point to win 25-21 and go up 2-0.
 
A 9-0 Weber State run early in the third set helped the Wildcats take a 10-2 lead. The deficit was too much for the Eagles to overcome, falling 25-9 and dropping the match 3-0.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Lindsey Russell had her fourth double-double of Big Sky play with 24 assists and 14 digs. Makenna Collins had 12 digs, and Maya McClellan and Sage Brustad each had nine.
 
McClellan led the team with nine kills, and four Eagles had five each. Renata Lopez Morales and McKenna Russell each had three blocks.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington hit .042 with 31 kills and 26 errors on 118 total attempts. The Wildcats hit .250 with only 12 errors and 37 kills on 100 total attempts.
 
Eastern was edged, but hung tough, with Weber in the other statistical categories. Although the Wildcats had seven aces to EWU's none, they were only out-blocked six-to-four, out-dug 51-to-55, and Weber had 35 assists to Eastern's 29.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington is back at Reese Court next week, hosting Northern Arizona (Oct. 28) and Southern Utah (Oct. 30). The match against the Lumberjacks is set for 6 p.m. Pacific time and the Eagles will host the Thunderbirds at noon.
 
Eastern Washington is looking to avenge a three-set loss to Northern Arizona back on Sept. 25 and earn the series sweep over the Thunderbirds since beating them 3-2 on Sept. 23 in Cedar City.