After weeks of prep plus an exhibition, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team officially opens up the 2021 season with a pair of matches at the Idaho Memorial Tournament, hosted by the University of Idaho. EWU's first match is against Grand Canyon on Friday, Aug. 27. Tournament play wraps up on Saturday, Aug. 28 against Portland. Both matches take place at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time in Moscow, Idaho.
 
The matches will not be streamed, but live stats will be available HERE. For tickets, visit GoVandals.com/tickets or call the Vandal Ticket Office at 208-885-6466.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: The Eagles welcome back 14 players, including five starters, from a team that finished 6-12 (5-11 BSC) and qualified for the Big Sky Conference Tournament a year ago. Second team All-Big Sky selection Ashlyn Blotzer returns along with setter Lindsey Russell and outside hitter Maya McClellan.
 
Eastern Washington is coached by Leslie Flores-Cloud who is in her fourth season at the helm. She is assisted by Angela Spoja who enters her second year at EWU, along with volunteer assistant Hayley Hills – a former Big Sky MVP and Eagle standout.
 
There are five new faces on the 2021 squad, all of which are true freshmen who look to make immediate impacts after successful prep careers. Joining the Eagles are libero Makenna Collins (Irrigon, Ore. / Baker Allprep Early College), Tanai Jenkins (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / Lake City HS), Adia Messenger (Troutdale, Ore. / Reynolds HS), Alyssa Radke (Mesa, Wash. / Connell HS) and Sadie Bacon (Snoqualmie, Wash. / Issaquah HS).
 
The Eagles hosted Central Washington in an exhibition last Friday (Aug. 20) at Reese Court where they lost in five sets. Despite the setback, McClellan led the team with 11 kill and four blocks. Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala came up just short of a double-double with nine kills and eight digs and also added four blocks and an ace. Freshman Sadie Bacon recorded nine kills as well. Both Lindsey Russell and Ellie Garrett split the setting duties, recording 21 assists each.
 
A LOOK AT THE LOPES: Grand Canyon is a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and finished second in the conference last year with an 11-4 overall record. The Lopes were picked to finish third in this season's preseason poll, and a pair of players in Hannah Eskes and Klaire Mitchell were named to the Preseason All-WAC team.
 
Mitchell is the reigning WAC Setter of the Year and ranked third nationally with 11.89 assists per set last season. Eskes ranked 22^nd in the nation with 1.42 blocks per set and was a two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Eastern Washington and Grand Canyon have faced each other twice before, with the Lopes taking both decisions in three-set sweeps. Most recently, the Eagles played at GCU on Sept. 13, 2019. This will be the first-ever neutral site matchups between the two as both previous matches have been played in Phoenix, Ariz.
 
A LOOK AT THE PILOTS: The University of Portland is a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC) and is coming off a season that saw them finish 2-14 overall and in WCC play. They are coached by Megan Burton who enters her second season at the helm and return seven letterwinners from last year. UP returns its kills leader from last season in Jayde Harris who recorded 144 total. They bring in four true freshmen along with two graduate transfers from Washington State and UC Davis.
 
EWU holds a 6-5 overall record over the Pilots in a series that dates back to the 1986 season. Eastern Washington has won three out of the last five matches. The last time the teams played was on Sept. 12, 2014 also in Moscow, Idaho, where the Eagles lost 1-3.
 
UP NEXT: Following the opening weekend, Eastern Washington heads to Texas for four matches in five days. First up is an away game at Tarleton State on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. PT in Stephenville, Texas.
 
Then the Eagles head to San Antonio, Texas for the UIW Cardinal Classic, hosted by Incarnate Word. EWU opens play against St. Thomas (Minn.) on Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. PT and wraps up play against the hosts the following day at 2 p.m.
 
The Texas road trip concludes on Monday, Sept. 6 with a matchup at Prairie View A&M. First serve is set for 4 p.m. PT.
 
ESPN+: Starting this year, all Eastern Washington home and Big Sky contests will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans will need to subscribe to the platform on ESPNPlus.com. It costs $6.99 per month, or you can save over 15% with an ESPN+ Annual Plan at $69.99 per year, or bundle ESPN+ with Disney+ and Hulu for $13.99 per month.
 
The Big Sky Conference no longer has a partnership with Pluto TV and games are not available on WatchBigSky.com. Additionally, ESPN+ broadcasts are not available internationally. For more information, click HERE.