FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – For the second-straight evening, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team faced Northern Arizona on the road in Flagstaff, Ariz. (Feb. 15). The Eagles battled the Lumberjacks to a 3-1 loss (16-25, 25-17, 17-25, 20-25).
 
Eastern Washington had two reach double-digit kills in Sage Brustad with 13 and Maya McClellan with 11. Catelyn Linke also led the way with a season-high 25 digs.
 
"I thought we played a better all-around game tonight. We served more aggressively which was a big component to our game plan, I was proud of our serving. We also did a nice job digging, especially under the circumstances with how low the ceiling is in Northern Arizona's gym," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "Catelyn Linke stepped up on serve-receive for us, and then finished it off with great digs. I also thought Maya McClellan had a really nice set two. We definitely are a young team, but we want to build on that and continue working really hard to get better every day because half of our season is still here."
 
Northern Arizona jumped out to an early 7-3 lead before the Eagles found their footing. A kill from Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala, followed by a block from McKenna Russell and Keala and a kill from Brustad made it a 3-0 run for the Eagles who cut their deficit to one, 7-6. Both sides would trade points from there until NAU used a 4-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. Eastern tried to make up ground, but the deficit proved to be too large as another 3-0 spurt from the Lumberjacks gave them a 22-14 lead en route to the 25-16 set one victory.
 
Set two was all Eastern Washington, as they hit .265 with 11 kills and held the Lumberjacks to just .058. The Eagles used a 4-0 run to take an early 5-2 lead. The Lumberjacks would respond instantly with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set 5-5. It was Eastern's turn again, as a 3-0 run that was capped by a service ace from Ana Paula Zandona helped them regain an 8-5 advantage that slowly built to 12-7 following another 3-0 run that forced a Northern Arizona timeout.
 
Eastern Washington had total control from there, as back-to-back kills and an ace from Brustad helped EWU pull away 17-9. Eastern Washington continued to cruise to victory, building a 19-12 lead before another 3-0 run gave them a 22-13 advantage. A kill from Brustad gave EWU set point, and after Northern Arizona found a point, they would commit an error that sealed the 25-17 set two win for Eastern Washington as the match moved in to a 1-1 tie.
 
Both teams were knotted up at 4-4 before the third set moved in to a 7-7 tie after a Catelyn Linke ace. Both sides went point-for-point with neither team able to pull away until NAU used a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. The Lumberjacks held the lead but never by more than four points until a 3-0 spurt grew the advantage to 19-14 and forced an Eastern Washington timeout. Northern Arizona was unphased by the stoppage, as they closed out the set to win 25-17 and retake the 2-1 lead.
 
A 5-0 run by the Lumberjacks gave them a 7-3 lead early in the fourth set. Eastern Washington would cut NAU's lead down to a point twice, once at 7-6 and then again at 10-9 after three-straight points from the Eagles. The game moved into an 11-11 tie after back-to-back kills from Brustad, but the Lumberjacks pulled back ahead 15-11.
 
The Eagles refused to back down quietly once NAU's lead grew to 18-13, as a Zandona service ace capped a 3-0 run that brought EWU back within two points, 18-16. Zandona would come up big again, as a setter's dump for the kill cut into Northern Arizona's lead and the Eagles trailed by just a point, 19-18. NAU then went on a 3-0 run and a Brustad kill fought off set point, but the Lumberjacks hung on for the 25-20 set four victory and took the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in Big Sky Conference play while the Lumberjacks improve to 6-2.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Both Sage Brustad (13) and Maya McClellan (11) led the Eagles in kills followed by Ashlyn Blotzer who had eight.
 
Ana Paula Zandona and Catelyn Linke recorded two service aces. Linke also led the Eagles with a season-high 25 digs and Zandona dished out a team-high 18 assists.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao reached 14 digs and Lindsey Russell recorded 12 assists. McKenna Russell led the team with five blocks.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Eagles hit .094 on the night with 43 kills and 29 errors on 149 total attempts. Northern Arizona hit .205 with 47 kills and 17 errors on 146 attempts.
 
Eastern Washington out-dug the Lumberjacks, 73 digs to 63. They were barely edged by NAU in aces (8 to 5), blocks (10 to 8) and assists (44 to 40).
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington returns to Cheney to host Montana on Sunday, Feb. 21 and Monday, Feb. 22 at Reese Court. First-serve for both matches is set for 2:05 p.m. Pacific time on Pluto TV Ch. 1053.