Continuing on its Big Sky Conference homestand, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team played host to Montana State tonight (Oct. 7) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. After dropping the first two sets, EWU fought back to force a fourth, but fell 3-1 (24-26, 18-25, 25-22, 20-25).
 
"Montana State was fearless in their attacking, they hit about .250 which is great. One of our goals tonight was to serve really tough to get their attack out of system and I thought we did a really nice job of that. We made their pin hitters take a lot of balls, and two hitters had 41 and 32 attempts," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "Our serve did its job, but on the other side we have to attack and clean up our errors."
 
Both sides exchanged runs to start the match, and Montana State led 8-4 after a 4-0 spurt and grew the lead to 11-5, then 15-8, for Eastern's largest deficit of the set. Freshman Makenna Collins checked in and served consecutive aces that capped a 3-0 run to cut EWU's deficit to 17-12. Another 3-0 run that ended on an Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e' Keala service ace put the Eagles within three, 19-16, and it forced an MSU timeout. Eastern Washington kept threatening and erased its early seven-point deficit by tying the set 24-24. However, the Bobcats found the final two points and hung on for the 26-24 victory.
 
After the Eagles used a 4-0 run to jump out to a 5-1 lead, the Bobcats tied the second set up 7-7 and grew a 12-8 lead. The momentum continued in Montana State's favor as it led 21-15. The Eagles were able to fight off set point thanks to a kill from McClellan and another ace from Collins, but MSU would win 25-18 for the 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The crucial third set saw 13 ties and seven lead changes and would end in EWU's favor. Down 10-9, a 4-0 run by the Eagles that was highlighted by consecutive aces from Lindsey Russell helped Eastern lead 13-10. EWU then led 14-11 when Montana State fired off six-straight points to lead 17-14. Eastern stayed collected with another 4-0 run that included back-to-back aces from the other Russell sibling, McKenna Russell, as the score turned to 18-17 in EWU's favor. The sides exchanged points as MSU found a 22-21 lead, but not before the Eagles had the final say. A kill from McKenna Russell sparked a decisive 4-0 run and the Eagles would win 25-22 to force a fourth set.
 
The fourth set was even at 4-4, but the Bobcats pulled away first with an 11-6 lead following a 4-0 run. Montana State seemed to have the majority of the momentum as they cruised along to a 20-16 lead. Eastern Washington refused to back down again, as a quick kill by McClellan and a block from McKenna Russell and Keala put EWU within striking distance, 21-19. However, the Bobcats closed the match on a 4-1 run to win 25-20 and take the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington falls to 5-8 on the year and 1-4 in Big Sky Conference play. Montana State, who won its sixth-straight over the Eagles, improves to 7-9 and 3-2.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Sage Brustad had a double-double of 11 kills and 13 digs to go with two blocks. Maya McClellan (15 kills) and Ashlyn Blotzer (10 kills) were also in double figures. Blotzer, who entered the week leading the conference in hitting percentage, struck .368 with only three errors on 19 attempts. She also led the team with four block assists.
 
Lindsey Russell had 28 assists, three service aces and seven digs on the night. Ellie Garrett had 15 assists and seven digs. Makenna Collins led the team with five service aces while adding seven digs. McKenna Russell had six kills and only one error plus two aces.
 
Sophia Spoja was second on the team with eight digs.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Montana State hit .242 on the evening with 49 kills and 17 errors on 132 total attempts. The Eagles also had 49 kills, but committed 24 errors on 149 tries to hit .168.
 
The Eagles were out-blocked, 11-to-6, but had 11 aces to MSU's seven. EWU had the edge in assists, 47-44, but Montana State had 63 digs to Eastern's 54.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington wraps up a four-match homestand against the University of Montana this Saturday, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. Attendance is complimentary and the match can be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available on EWUStats.com.