CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Eastern Washington University volleyball team traveled to Cedar City, Utah, this evening (March 19) to face the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. The Eagles lost in straight-sets (21-25, 20-25, 20-25) to move to 6-10 on the season and 5-10 in Big Sky Conference play.
 
"We needed to pick up our serve-receive tonight. We did a nice job serving and our offense distributed nicely too. We continued to improve our side-out percentage and in our offense, we improved from basically hitting zero to hitting over three-hundred in the third set. That helped a lot, but we missed our opportunities by not being settled in in serve-receive," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud.
 
Maya McClellan hammered down consecutive kills then teamed up with Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala for a block for a 3-0 spurt to give the Eagles their first lead of the first set, 11-10. The freshman duo of Sage Brustad and Katie fleck found back-to-back kills for another 3-0 run that helped Eastern grow a 16-14 lead and forced a Thunderbird timeout. When the match moved into a 17-17 tie, the Eagles seemed to have found their groove, using a 4-0 run that was highlighted by an Alisha Straw ace and a solo block from Renata Lopez Morales for a 21-17 lead. However, Southern Utah went on an 8-0 run to come from behind and take the opening set, 25-21.
 
Southern Utah jumped out to a 4-0 lead that grew to 7-3 in the second set. EWU fired off four-straight points to knot the frame up 7-7, only for the Thunderbirds to respond with a run of their own to lead 11-7. Eastern continued to battle, using a 4-0 spurt to tie the set up 14-14 and the two teams went back-and-forth from there as the set moved in to a 19-19 tie. Southern Utah then found momentum with four-straight points to pull ahead 22-19. A kill from Ashlyn Blotzer snapped the run, but SUU worked for set point and finished the game off with an ace to take the 2-0 lead, 25-20.
 
The third set was Eastern's best statistic wise, as they hit .323 with 14 kills and only four errors on 31 attempts. However, Southern Utah also hit .387 with 14 kills and two errors on 31 total attempts and held the momentum most of the way. A 3-0 run for the Thunderbirds stretched the lead to 14-9 midway through the set, and eventually led 21-16. Trailing 24-18, consecutive kills from Lopez Morales and McClellan fought off match point, but the spark came too late as the Eagles fell 25-20 and dropped the match in straight-sets.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, Eastern Washington drops to 6-10 overall and 5-10 in Big Sky Conference play. Southern Utah improves to 7-7 and 7-6 in conference action.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington hit .200 on the night with 35 kills and 15 errors on 100 attempts. It collected 42 digs, four blocks, 33 assists and three aces.
 
Southern Utah swung .327 with 44 kills and 10 errors on 104 total attempts. The Thunderbirds notched eight service aces to go with seven blocks, 42 assists and 43 digs. They had 10 service errors to Eastern's four.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Sage Brustad led the Eagles with 11 kills. She hit .360 on the night with only two errors on 25 attempts to go with five digs.
 
Both Maya McClellan and Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala had seven kills, while McClellan led the Eagles with two blocks. Renata Lopez Morales also had two blocks.
 
Lindsey Russell and Ana Paula Zandona split the setting duties with 13 assists each. In Russell's first match back from injury since Feb. 15, she had nine digs and a service ace. Zandona and Alisha Straw also had an ace.
 
Noa Torio led the Eagles with 10 digs.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington closes the regular season tomorrow (March 20) at Southern Utah. First serve is set for 5 p.m. Pacific time on Pluto TV Ch. 1055.