GAME NOTES

CHENEY, Wash. – With a two-match winning streak, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team is heading to Flagstaff, Ariz., for a pair of matches against Northern Arizona. The Eagles face the Lumberjacks on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. Pacific time, and again on Monday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. PT. Both matches can be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 1058.
 
Eastern Washington returns to action after topping Portland State in five sets in back-to-back matches on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 at Reese Court. The Eagles were down two sets to one in the opening match and forced a fifth set. The match itself saw 25 ties and eight total lead changes and the win marked EWU's first over Portland State since Oct. 10, 2015, snapping a six-match losing streak to the Vikings. Freshman Sage Brustad led the Eagles with 16 kills, two of which came consecutively in game five to give Eastern the win and the final points of the match. Lindsey Russell collected her fourth double-double of the season with 38 assists and 14 digs, and Catelyn Linke led the way with 23 digs.
 
In game two, it was the Eagles who were up two sets to none when Portland State stormed back to claim sets three and four and force a fifth. Eastern Washington won the fifth set 15-12 and it marked the first time EWU had won back-to-back matches over the Vikings since 2008. Brustad led the team in kills for the second-straight match with 20, marking the most kills by an Eagle since August of 2018. Two other Eagles in Maya McClellan (14) and Renata Lopez Morales (12) totaled double digit kills.
 
After the pair of wins, which marked the first time EWU had won back-to-back Big Sky matches since September of 2017, senior Catelyn Linke earned Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. She totaled 41 digs on the weekend for an average of 4.10 per set. Linke leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 4.43 digs per set this season – and the honor was the first Player of the Week nod for an EWU volleyball player since 2016.
 
The Eagles now sit at 3-4 overall with a 2-4 mark in conference action as they ended a five-match homestand with three victories. They will be looking to win three conference matches in a row for the first time since 2015 when they had a streak of seven.
 
Eastern Washington averages 11.3 kills per set and are hitting .175. They also average 10.0 assists, 1.1 aces and 1.5 blocks per set while ranking second in the conference with 15.3 digs per frame.
 
Offensively, Eastern Washington has three players that average over two kills per set – led by Brustad with 2.56. McClellan (2.20) and Blotzer (2.10) follow close behind. Blotzer leads the team with .57 blocks per set followed by Renata Lopez Morales with .52. Brustad leads the way with 10 total service aces. Also on the defensive front is Linke with 133 total digs, followed by Puaoolelagi Sao who follows with 2.07 digs per set.
 
Lindsey Russell paces the Eagles with 8.32 assists per set which ranks sixth in the conference. She has notched a double-double in four out of seven matches this season.
 
Northern Arizona is fourth in the Big Sky standings with an overall and conference record of 4-2. They also swept Portland State and then split with Montana State last week on the road. The Lumberjacks rank second in the Big Sky in hitting percentage, swinging .227 with 12.04 kills per set which is also second. NAU also ranks in the top-five in the conference in assists (11.12), aces (1.75) and digs per set (14.88).
 
Taylor Jacobsen leads the way for the Lumberjacks in kills per set 4.12, which is the second-most in the conference, and hitting percentage with .310.
 
The Eagles will look to snap another losing streak to a Big Sky foe, as they have lost three-straight to the Lumberjacks. Although they lead the all-time series 37-31, plus a 16-15 edge in Flagstaff, EWU hasn't beat Northern Arizona since Oct. 5, 2017 when they earned a sweep on the road. Since then, they have only claimed one set in the last three meetings. Last year, they lost 3-1 on Oct. 19 in Cheney and then 3-0 on Nov. 21 in Flagstaff.
 
Eastern Washington returns home to host Montana on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 at Reese Court. First serve for both matches is set for 2:05 p.m. PT on Pluto TV Ch. 1053.