MATCH NOTES

CHENEY, Wash. – The final week of the regular season has arrived for the Eastern Washington University volleyball team. The Eagles will head to Cedar City, Utah, to face Southern Utah on Friday, March 19 at 6 p.m. Pacific time and again on Saturday, March 20 at 5 p.m. PT. Both games will be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 1055.
 
Eastern Washington sits in eighth place in the conference standings with an overall record of 6-9 and a 5-9 mark in league play. It wrapped up its home slate with a 6-3 overall record, but are still in search of its first road win as its 0-6 away from Reese Court this season.
 
Southern Utah sits in sixth place in the league standings with a 6-6 mark in conference action and 6-7 overall. At home at the America First Event Center, the Thunderbirds are 6-1.
 
THE EAGLES ARE IN: The Eagles can breathe a bit as they have already qualified for the 2021 Big Sky Spring Volleyball Championship for the first time since the 2016 season. The championships take place on March 31 through April 2 in Greeley, Colo., and are hosted by the Northern Colorado Bears. There is still a lot to play for, as seeding will not be decided until after this week's slate of matches across the conference are finished. All games will be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 1050, and fans can click HERE for developing tournament information.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Most recently, Eastern Washington split with Idaho on March 12 and March 13 at Reese Court. The first contest was a heartbreaker, as the Eagles were up two sets to none and wound up dropping the contest in five. With a 2-1 lead in the fourth set and up 24-15 with match point, Idaho stormed back and rallied off nine-straight points to eventually win 27-25 and send the match into five. EWU had no answer and lost 15-10 in the fifth set.
 
The Eagles came back with vengeance in their final match of the year at Reese Court. After narrowly dropping the first set in extra points, 31-29, Eastern won the final three to top Idaho 3-1. The victory snapped an eight-match losing streak to the Vandals, marking EWU's first win over its conference foe since Oct., 15, 2016.
 
Senior Catelyn Linke tallied a season-high 29 digs to go with three service aces, and Ashlyn Blotzer led the way with a season-high 16 kills while hitting .421 with no attack errors on 38 attempts. Eastern also set a season-high as a team in aces (9) and hitting percentage (.256) in the win.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Three Eagles average over two kills per set, led by Maya McClellan (2.48) and freshman Sage Brustad (2.44). Ashlyn Blotzer averages 2.27 while ranking fifth in the Big Sky in hitting percentage with a .302 clip.
Catelyn Linke ranks third in the Big Sky with 4.80 digs per set with 307 total. The senior currently ranks sixth all-time in program history on the career digs list with 1,250, just 48 away from fifth to pass Eagle great Janelle Ruen. Linke also has 16 service aces on the year to lead the Eagles, averaging .25 per set.
 
Ana Paula Zandona is seventh in the Big Sky with 6.71 assists per set and ranks second on the team with 12 total aces.
 
Defensively, Blotzer leads the way with .64 blocks per set with 41 total. Renata Lopez Morales is close behind with .60 blocks per set.
 
As a team, Eastern Washington hits at a .182 clip with 11.0 kills per set. They add 9.9 assists, 1.3 aces and 1.6 blocks per set while ranking fifth in the conference with 14.9 digs per frame.
 
A LOOK AT THE THUNDERBIRDS: Southern Utah is on a two-match winning streak after beating Idaho State in five sets in back-to-back matches at home on March 6 and March 7. The Thunderbirds haven't played since, as their road matches at Montana State were canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Bobcat program.
 
The Thunderbirds are near the bottom of the conference in hitting percentage, swinging .162 with 10.65 kills per set. They allow their opponents to hit .215. Southern Utah is fourth in the Big Sky with 1.65 service aces per set and boast the conference leader in aces, Elisa Lago, who leads the league with .55 per set.
 
Setter Corrin Peterson is third in Big Sky with 8.71 assists per set, and Stacey Hone (2.69) and Andreanna McKee (2.67) lead the team in kills per set.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington leads the all-time series over Southern Utah, 7-5, and have won six out of the last 10 matchups. In Cedar City, the Eagles are an even 3-3. However, Eastern Washington is looking for its first road win over the Thunderbirds since Oct. 1, 2015.
 
Last season, the two teams swept the regular season meetings. Eastern Washington beat Southern Utah in a five-set thriller on Oct. 17, 2019 at Reese Court. The win snapped a long conference losing streak for the Eagles and marked head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud's first home and Big Sky victory at the helm. On Nov. 23, 2019, EWU lost 3-1 in the season finale in Southern Utah. That match was closely contested, with Eastern losing the first two sets 36-34 and 25-21, before winning set three 25-20 and losing set four 25-27.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington will have over a week off from competition before participating in the 2021 Big Sky Spring Volleyball Championships, set for March 31 through April 2 in Greeley, Colo. Stay tuned to GoEags.com or @EWUVB on Twitter for further information, including opponents and match times, for the championships.