CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker to the visiting Idaho Vandals tonight at Reese Court (March 12). Up two sets to none, the Eagles wound up dropping the contest in five (25-15, 25-19, 17-25, 25-27, 10-15).
 
Eastern Washington was up in the match, 2-1, and held a 24-15 lead in set four when the Vandals came storming back – fighting off match point nine times and ultimately claiming set four 27-25.
 
"I think we thought we had it and all of a sudden pressure started mounting, and that's something that our team hasn't done well with. Facing adversity and working through it is something we've talked a lot about, kudos to Idaho because they have a great block and we were timid against it. We'll work on that tomorrow," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We had all the momentum going into set three and in set four and we lost it. Once you lose it, there's no guarantee you'll ever get it back. We need to work on finishing, and we worked on it a ton in practice this week and that's why I'm so frustrated by that, because that was the point of emphasis in practice this week."
 
Both sides exchanged points in the opening set until Eastern Washington started to pull away 12-10 to force an Idaho timeout. After the timeout, a Puaoolelagi Sao ace made it a 13-10 lead and the Eagles were off from there. In all, Eastern Washington exploded for eight-straight points to build a 19-10 lead. A 9-1 scoring run overall grew the advantage to 21-11. Back-to-back attack errors by the Vandals helped Eastern win the opening set, 25-15.
 
Eastern Washington was off to a 7-3 lead in set two when Idaho used a 4-0 run to tie the set 7-7. After another 9-9 tie, Eastern Washington pulled ahead 14-10 for an Idaho timeout. Overall, the Eagles used another 8-0 spurt to grow their advantage to 19-10. Later in the set, the Vandals used a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 20-14, but the Eagles stayed calm and a Noa Torio service ace extended the lead to 23-15. A Vandal service error made it set point Eastern Washington, 24-16, but Idaho fought off set point twice to force an EWU timeout. Out of the timeout, Ana Paula Zandona hammered down the kill to win 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Idaho stayed alive in set three by tallying 15 kills and only two service errors on 36 total attempts to swing .361. The Eagles hit .200 with 11 kills and only four errors on 35 total attempts, but the Vandals had the momentum most of the set and won 25-17 to stay alive.
 
Eastern Washington jumped out to 3-0 lead in set four after two Sao service aces. Once a 5-0 Vandal scoring run tied the set 7-7, the Eagles answered back and a Zandona ace helped them pull ahead 13-9. Another ace from Renata Lopez Morales, EWU's ninth of the match, gave the Eagles a 16-12 lead before building the largest lead of the set, 20-13, after a 4-0 run.
 
The Eagles led 24-15 and looked to close out the match when the Vandals mounted their comeback. Idaho would fight off match point nine times to tie the set 24-24. A Sage Brustad kill finally snapped the run to retake a 25-24, but the Vandals found three more points and won 27-25 to send the match into a fifth set.
 
A 6-1 scoring run for the Vandals helped them lead 8-4 and the Eagles could never find their footing, dropping set five 15-10 and the match 3-2.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops to 5-9 overall and 4-9 in Big Sky Conference play. Idaho improves to 6-7 and 5-6 in conference action.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Freshman Katie Fleck led the Eagles with 14 kills. She hit .281 with only five errors on 32 total attempts to go with two solo blocks.
 
Ashlyn Blotzer totaled 11 kills while hitting at a .320 clip and also had two blocks to lead the team. Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala had 10 kills.
 
Alisha Straw led the team in digs with 16 and Catelyn Linke followed close behind with 15.
 
Puaoolelagi Sao served up five of the team's nine service aces and had seven digs. Ana Paula Zandona dished 37 assists and tallied eight digs.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington hit at a .186 clip with 49 kills, 22 errors and 145 total attempts. The Vandals hit .201 with 59 kills, 27 errors and 159 total attempts.
 
Eastern was edged in blocks, 7-to-5, but had nine service aces to UI's eight. The Eagles were out-dug 65-to-57 and Idaho had 55 assists to Eastern's 43.
 
UP NEXT: The Vandals and the Eagles clash again tomorrow (March 13) at Reese Court. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m. Pacific time on Pluto TV Ch. 1053.