The Eastern Washington University volleyball team's 2021 season came to close this afternoon (Nov. 18) in the Big Sky Conference Quarterfinal. The No. 7 Eagles took on the No. 2 Bears and fell 3-0 (17-25, 20-25, 19-25).
Eastern Washington finishes the season 11-14 overall and 7-9 in conference action for the most wins, both overall and in Big Sky play, since 2016. The regular season champions, the Bears, improve to 22-6 and 13-3 and take a seven-match winning streak into tomorrow's semifinal against Portland State.
"What a great Northern Colorado team. There were some things that we did against them that we haven't done all season. We out-blocked them and had four aces, we hadn't had that many against them this whole year. Our serving and our block were great, and we had two pins who hit above .250, which is huge for us. We fought really hard and I'm proud of the fight that our team had in this match. I wish it would've gone our way, but you can't have them all," said head coach
Leslie Flores-Cloud.
The teams were neck-and-neck to start the first set until the Bears used a 4-0 run to pull ahead 10-5. Eastern Washington cut the lead to 14-12 after consecutive kills from
Katie Fleck and
Ashlyn Blotzer, but the Bears continued to build a 20-16 advantage. UNC then used a 5-1 run to close the set and win 25-17.
Northern Colorado jumped out to a 10-3 lead to start things off in set number two. The Eagles found their footing, using a 6-1 run that included back-to-back service aces from
Noa Torio to make it a 12-10 game in favor of the Bears. Northern Colorado found four-straight points to pull back ahead 16-10, but another 3-0 spurt for EWU put them within striking distance. That would be the closest Eastern Washington would get, as the Bears found set point 24-18. However, blocks by Lindsey and
McKenna Russell, then another block by
Lindsey Russell and
Maya McClellan fought the Bears off as EWU pulled within four, 24-20. However, the Bears found the final kill to hold on to the 25-20 win.
Locked in at 6-6, Northern Colorado used a 6-0 run to pull ahead 12-6. The Eagles cut the lead down to 13-10 and then 15-12, but had to play catchup from there and just couldn't catch up to the hard-hitting Bears. Facing set point, a McClellan block and a Bear error put the Eagles back within five, but Northern Colorado hammered down the match winner and took the set 25-19, and the contest 3-0.
"We had a tough team this year. They stuck together through thick and thin and have fought for each other and gotten better, and that's all a coach can ask for," added Flores-Cloud. "I thought we played really good volleyball in our last few weeks and were peaking. All I can ask for is that we peak at the right time, and I really thought we did. Towards the end of the year, we were playing our best volleyball. I'm just excited to get going again for next and continue building our program. I think that over the last two years, it's been tough, but we've gotten better and I'm excited for Eagle volleyball to continue growing."
TOP PERFORMANCES: Maya McClellan led the team with eight kills. She added three blocks, four digs and a service ace in her final match as an Eagle.
Ashlyn Blotzer and
Sage Brustad each added five kills.
Lindsey Russell dished 24 assists, added two blocks, and had eight digs.
Noa Torio led the way with two service aces.
Makenna Collins added seven digs and an ace.
KEY STATISTICS: Northern Colorado hit at a .267 clip, including .444 in the opening frame. The Bears had 43 kills and 16 errors on 101 total attempts. Eastern Washington was held to .104 with 27 kills and 17 errors on 96 total attacks.
The Eagles out-blocked the Bears, 7-to-6, but were edged in aces 9-to-4, digs 45-to-36, and assists, 40-to-27.
