CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team hosted Montana to a five-set thriller this afternoon (Feb. 21), where they won 3-2 (25-14, 12-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-7). The Eagles came out and won set one, but then dropped the next two sets. EWU stayed alive in set four and won decidedly, 15-7, in the fifth and final set.
 
The win marked the second-straight over Montana, which also came in five sets in November of 2019. Eastern Washington was led by Maya McClellan who had a career-high 19 kills, followed by Sage Brustad who had 14. Catelyn Linke had 19 digs, while Ana Paula Zandona recorded 41 assists.
 
Tonight's game was the fourth-straight five-set match at Reese Court, as the Eagles now move to 3-1 when the match goes the distance.
 
"It's the ebbs and flows of volleyball. We came out and beat them in set one and were on a high and then we went into a lull in set two. I would love to have more consistency, but both of these teams are young. I think that Catelyn Linke was the only senior for both sides on the floor," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "I'd love to see us dig tighter to the 10-foot line so we can run and get more of our players set. We were digging too far off to get to our middles and it favored our outsides who had a wonderful night. When you have a hot-hitter, you go to them and Ana Paula Zandona did a great job setting to Maya McClellan and Sage Brustad."
 
The Eagles used a 4-0 run to lead 5-2 in set one. The Griz responded with a 3-0 run to tie the set 5-5, but the Eagles stayed in control and built a 13-7 lead following a 5-0 scoring run and forced a Montana timeout. Out of the timeout, a setter's dump and an ace from Ana Paula Zandona grew the lead to 16-9. Montana found some momentum and used a 3-0 run to cut Eastern's lead to 17-12, but it was all Eagles from there as they used a 3-0 run that was capped by a ShaRae Niu service ace to win 25-14 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
It was all Montana in set two, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead that built to 5-1. A 4-0 run later in the set grew UM's advantage to 13-7 and forced an Eastern Washington timeout. The Grizzlies ended the set on a 6-0 run and won 25-12 to even the match 1-1.
 
Set three was a game of runs until the finish, as there were eight ties and six lead changes. Eastern Washington used a 4-0 run to take an early 4-2 lead. The Grizzlies then responded with a 4-0 run of their own to pull ahead 8-5. That's when the Eagles used a 4-0 spurt to retake the 9-8 advantage. Then, Montana found three-straight points to pull ahead 11-9. It was Eastern's turn to retake the lead, using a 4-0 run to take a 13-11 advantage. Both sides would battle back and forth, with neither team able to pull ahead until Montana found another 4-0 run later in the set to lead 23-18. Eastern Washington returned the favor with three-straight points to cut the deficit to 23-21, but the Grizzlies found the final two to win 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set was closely contested as well as the teams traded point until Montana found an 8-6 lead. McKenna Russell then fired off back-to-back kills and it sparked a 5-1 EWU run to lead 11-9. The Grizzlies came back and pulled ahead 16-14. Then, the Eagles strung together a 6-0 run that included four Griz errors for a 20-16 lead.
 
Eastern Washington held a 22-17 advantage when the Grizzlies strung together three-straight points to cut the lead to 22-20. Both sides traded points to close the set, but a kill from Zandona was the deciding factor. Eastern Washington won 25-22 and stayed alive to force a fifth set.
 
The Eagles had full control in the fifth and final set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Montana made it interesting, using four-straight points to make it a one-point contest, 7-6. EWU held a 9-7 advantage when it found momentum. Eastern Washington closed the match on a 6-0 run, that included three kills from McClellan, and claimed the fifth set 15-7 and the match 3-2.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the win, Eastern Washington improves to 4-6 overall and 3-6 in Big Sky Conference play. Montana falls to 1-8 overall and in Big Sky action. The victory marks the second-straight win over Montana, which also came in five sets at Reese Court back in November of 2019.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Maya McClellan led the way with a career-high 19 kills. She swung .378 on the night with only five errors on 37 attempts.
 
Sage Brustad followed with 14 kills, she hit .303 on the evening with four errors on 33 attempts and also had seven digs.
 
Ashlyn Blotzer had seven kills and led the team with three blocks.
 
Catelyn Linke recorded 19 digs and three service aces. Puaoolelagi Sao had nine digs.
 
Ana Paula Zandona had two service aces, nine digs and led the way with 41 assists.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Eagles hit .261 on the day, with 54 kills and 17 errors on 142 total attempts. Montana swung .201, with 49 kills, 20 errors and 144 total attempts.
 
Montana had 12 service aces to Eastern's four. The Eagles were also out-blocked six to four. EWU edged Montana in assists, 46 to 40, but Montana recorded 61 digs to Eastern's 59.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington hosts the Grizzlies again tomorrow (Feb. 22) at 2:05 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court.