For the fourth-straight time at Reese Court against Montana, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team walks away with a 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-10) win. The Eagles hosted the Grizzlies this afternoon (Oct. 9) in Cheney, Wash., and improve to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in Big Sky Conference play.
 
The match was close all the way through, with each set being decided by five points or less with 35 total ties.
 
Led by junior setter Lindsey Russell, who had a double-double of 45 assists and 13 digs, the Eagles also had four players reach the double-digit kill mark, led by Sage Brustad with 18. Four of Brustad's 18 kills came consecutively in the fifth set to help lead Eastern Washington to victory.
 
"That Griz team played outstanding, the effort that they gave was awesome. On our side of the net, we were starting to take care of things that we had been needing to," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "The highlight of my night was Lindsey Russell. She was great defensively and offensively, setting our offense at .275. It was a great night for Lindsey and she was a key player that we needed."
 
After Montana used a 4-0 run to jump out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set, Eastern Washington used an early timeout. Out of the break, the Eagles went on an 8-1 run to take their first lead of the set, 9-8. Eastern Washington continued to lead 14-11 after a Lindsey Russell service ace. Montana would not go away easily, finding a way to re-tie the set at 19-19 and took a 23-20 lead after a 3-0 run. The Grizzlies would end up closing the set on an 8-2 run to claim the opening set, 25-21.
 
The Grizzlies led 4-1 to open the second set and the teams would stay locked all the way through points 5-5 to 12-12. Montana broke through first and pulled ahead 22-16. Trailing 23-18, Brustad fired off consecutive kills then teamed up with Ashlyn Blotzer to help Eastern cut the deficit to 23-21. Montana would find set point first, 24-21, but the Eagles fought it off three times thanks to consecutive kills from Lindsey Russell and an ace from Brustad. Montana found set point again, 25-24, but EWU closed the set on a three-point rally to win 27-25 and even the match 1-1.
 
After trailing 8-4, a 5-0 Eastern Washington scoring spurt gave the Eagles a 9-8 lead. The teams would stay knotted for the majority of the set until three-straight kills from Lindsey Russell, Blotzer and Maya McClellan gave EWU a 17-15 lead that stretched to 21-18, forcing a UM timeout. The Griz made things interesting, collecting three-straight points to tie the set 22-22. UM would also fight off Eastern's set point, making it a 24-23 game, but Blotzer was there for the final kill and EWU led 2-1 after a 25-23 victory.
 
Consecutive aces by McKenna Russell gave EWU a 6-4 lead early in the fourth set, but things quickly moved into an 8-8 tie. Ties would remain a theme, with both sides locked at 14-14, 15-15, 17-17 and 18-18 before the Grizzlies took a lead for good. Montana would wind up ending the set on a 7-2 run to force a fifth set after a 25-20 win.
 
Eastern Washington had a handle on things early in final set and never trailed, jumping out to a 9-5 lead. A 4-0 run, all of which came from kills from Brustad, helped Eastern pull ahead 14-8. The Grizzlies did fight off match point twice, but Blotzer delivered the game-winning kill, 15-10, and the Eagles won 3-2.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Following today's win, Eastern Washington is now 6-8 overall and 2-4 in Big Sky Conference play. Montana drops to 6-10 and 1-5. The Eagles are now 26-15 again the Griz at Reese Court with their fourth-straight overall victory over Montana. All four wins have come at home in five sets.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Sage Brustad led the Eagles with 18 kills. She also had two aces, two block assists and nine digs. Ashlyn Blotzer swung .464 on the day with 15 kills and two errors while adding a block solo and three block assists.
 
Maya McClellan hit .385 with 12 kills and two errors. McKenna Russell had 10 kills and two errors to hit .421. She had three service aces to lead the team, two block solos, two block assists and three digs. Her sister, Lindsey Russell, ran the Eagle offense with 45 assists and 13 digs for a double-double. She also added five kills, an ace, and two block assists.
 
Sophia Spoja (16) and Makenna Collins (13) led the team in digs.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington hit .275 (65k-19e-167ta) compared to Montana's .283 clip (73k-22e-180ta). They out-blocked the Griz 10-to-8 and had eight aces to their five. Eastern was edged in digs, 73-to-68, and assists, 59-to-49.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington goes back out on the road to wrap up the first half of conference play. The Eagles take on regional rival, Idaho, at 6 p.m. on Oct. 14 before traveling to Northern Colorado on Oct. 16 for a 1 p.m. Pacific time matchup. The road trip continues after that, playing at Idaho State (Oct. 21) and Weber State (Oct. 23).