CEDAR CITY, Utah – Another closely contested battle in five sets did not go in the Eastern Washington University volleyball team's favor tonight. The Eagles faced Southern Utah on the road for the second consecutive day, and after being swept in the three the evening before, Eastern battled the Thunderbirds to a five-set loss (25-17, 16-25, 25-17, 24-26, 9-15) to close the regular season (March 20).
 
The Eagles were up two sets to one in the fourth and trailed 12-5 in the fourth before fighting back and being edged, 26-24. Three players led Eastern in double-digit kills in Maya McClellan (13), Ashlyn Blotzer (12) and Sage Brustad (10), while Lindsey Russell collected a double-double.
 
"We did an awesome job of coming back in set four, we were down and made a comeback and that was good to see. Ashlyn Blotzer and Maya McClellan led us offensively, and they also did a great job blocking for us. Renata Lopez Morales stepped in to play six rotations for us and Lindsey Russell had a double-double as well," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We had some really good pieces, we just fell a little short."
 
The Eagles took advantage of four Southern Utah errors, plus a block from McClellan and Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala, to put together a 5-0 run to pull ahead 11-8 in the opening set. Eastern continued to lead 16-14 and a 4-0 spurt extended the advantage to 20-14. Blotzer came up big in the first set, as she found a kill plus a block assist to give EWU a 23-16 lead. The junior then helped close out the first set with another kill and block assist for the 25-17 lead to go up 1-0 in the match. The Eagles held Southern Utah to an .000 hitting percentage in the first frame.
 
It was Southern Utah that held all of the momentum in set two, jumping out to a 3-0 lead that steadily grew to 20-13. The Thunderbirds hit .387 with 16 kills and four errors, while holding EWU to .088 with 10 kills and seven errors to win 25-16 and even the match 1-1.
 
Eastern Washington held a slight advantage through the early parts of set three and led 15-12 before breaking away. A setter's dump from Lindsey Russell sparked a 6-0 run to give EWU a comfortable 21-12 lead. Blotzer found a kill then teamed up with Brustad for a block for the final two points of the set, giving the Eagles a 25-17 victory as they pulled back ahead 2-1 in the match.
 
It appeared to be all Thunderbirds in the fourth set, as they led 8-1 and then 12-5. Four quick points that included kills from McClellan and Blotzer cut the deficit to 12-9, and they slowly chipped away from there. Still facing a 20-16 deficit, another 4-0 run tied the set at 20-20 all. The set would be tied four more times, and Southern Utah faced set point 24-23, when Katie Fleck hammered down a kill to keep Eastern alive. However, the Thunderbirds collected the final two kills to win 26-24 and push the match to five sets.
 
The Thunderbirds held all the momentum in set five, jumping out to a 4-0 lead that extended to 8-3, then 12-6, before eventually winning 15-9 to take the match 3-2.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington finished the regular season 6-11 overall and 5-11 in Big Sky play. Southern Utah remains unbeaten at home in conference action, finishing 8-7 overall and 7-7 in the Big Sky.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Three Eagles notched double-digit kills, led by Maya McClellan with 13. Ashlyn Blotzer followed with 12 and led the team with a career-high seven blocks. Sage Brustad rounded things outs with 10 kills, two service aces, three blocks and seven digs.
 
Lindsey Russell collected a double-double of 27 assists and 14 digs while also serving an ace. Ana Paula Zandona came just short of a double-double with 17 assists and eight digs.
 
Renata Lopez Morales collected 10 digs and five blocks. Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala also had two aces and seven digs.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington hit .169 on the evening with 49 kills and 22 errors on 160 total attempts. Southern Utah only swung .120, but had 55 kills and 34 errors on 175 attempts.
 
Service aces made the difference, with the Thunderbirds serving 11 to EWU's five, even though SUU had 10 service errors and Eastern had seven.
 
Both squads found success at the night, with EWU just edging the Thunderbirds with a season-high 13 to SUU's 12. Eastern was out-dug 79-to-70 and the Thunderbirds had 53 assists to EWU's 47.
 
UP NEXT: Tonight's match concluded the regular season, and Eastern Washington now sets its sights on the 2021 Big Sky Spring Championships. The Eagles qualified for the tournament for the first time since the 2016 season and now await their seeding. The championships take place from March 31 to April 2 and are hosted by Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo.