The Eastern Washington University volleyball team kicked off its Texas road trip at Tarleton State tonight (Sept. 1) with a five-set loss. The Eagles dropped the first two sets, 13-25 and 18-25, before bouncing back to take the next two, 25-19 and 25-23. In the fifth and final set, the Texans would use a 9-2 run to pick up a 15-8 decision to win 3-2.
 
EWU moves to 1-2 on the season while TSU improves to 2-1. The match marked the first of four matches in six days the state of Texas for the Eagles. Maya McClellan led the Eagles in kills with 14 and hit .357 on the night with only four errors on 28 tries. Sage Brustad would follow with 11 kills.
 
Ellie Garrett also notched the first double-double of her career with 13 digs and 18 assists. Two other Eagles hit the double-digit digs mark in Sophia Spoja (17) and Makenna Collins (15). Lindsey Russell led the team with 22 assists and two aces.
 
"I enjoyed the hospitality from the Texans tonight, it was a fun arena to play in. I'm hopeful that we'll get back on track this weekend and I'm pleased with the team's fight tonight," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "We played as a unit, worked on some things and got better throughout the match. The coin didn't fall on our side, but we learned a lot of things and I'm excited to continue our Texas road trip."
 
After the Eagles dropped the first two sets, 13-25 and 18-25, a 6-0 run in the third helped them build a 15-9 advantage. The lead would build to 20-14 following a kill from Renata Lopez Morales. Eastern Washington would continue to hold the advantage, and a kill from McClellan and a set-winning service ace from Collins helped EWU stay alive with a 25-19 win.
 
Set four featured 11 ties and eight lead changes and would eventually land Eastern's way in a 25-23 decision. The Eagles trailed 21-18 when they used a 5-0 run to retake a 23-21 lead. The run was highlighted by two kills from Brustad and one from Sadie Bacon. Brustad would deliver with a kill again to give EWU set point, 24-22, but then committed a service error to help the Texans pull within one. However, TSU committed a service error of its own and the Eagles would hold on to win, 25-23.
 
Set five was just as close with six ties, but with the set tied 6-6 the Texans pulled ahead and finished on a 9-2 run to top the Eagles 3-2.
 
Eastern's road trip in the Lone Star state continues on Friday (Sept. 3) with a 1 p.m. Pacific time matchup against St. Thomas for the first match of the UIW Cardinal Classic. The Eagles take on the hosts Incarnate Word on Saturday at 2 p.m. and wrap up with a single match at Prairie View A&M on Sept. 6.