On its own home floor to wrap up play at the EWU Volleyball Classic at Reese Court, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team topped in-state foe Seattle in five sets this afternoon (Sept. 18). The Eagles battled back from a 2-1 deficit (22-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11) to end non-conference play 4-4 overall.
 
Freshman Sadie Bacon led the Eagles with 20 kills, hitting .471 on the day. Ashlyn Blotzer, who was named to the All-Tournament team, followed with 14 kills after hitting at a .571 clip.
 
"I was excited with how we played today and I was excited for our setters and how they ran our offense - Ellie Garrett and Lindsey Russell did a wonderful job today," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud. "It was good for us to dig deep. We were down two sets to one and we were able to maintain composure with such a young team and battle it out, it showed our feistiness and how competitive we are."
 
Seattle U held an early 7-3 lead in the opening set, but the Eagles were able to cut the lead to 11-10 following a kill from Lindsey Russell. After the Redhawks pulled ahead 18-10 following a 7-0 run, EWU responded with a 5-1 run of their own to put them within distance, 19-15. A 4-0 run that was capped by a Blotzer and an Alyssa Radke block put EWU within a point, 20-19. Seattle U regained its lead, going on a 4-1 scoring spurt to pull ahead 24-20. A kill from Radke and a block by Maya McClellan and Sadie Bacon helped fight off set point twice, but the Redhawks held on to a 25-22 win to claim set one.
 
Eastern Washington hit .448 in set two with 15 kills and just two errors on 29 total attempts. The Eagles jumped out to a 9-6 lead that built to 15-9 and they held a comfortable 20-14 lead late in the set. Down 24-17, Seattle would fight off set point, but Bacon was there for the final kill to win 25-18, evening the match 1-1.
 
After the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead, a 6-0 run by SU gave them an 8-6 lead that would build to 10-7. After EWU crept bac to cut the lead to 11-9, Seattle found its footing once again to lead 14-10 and then 17-13. Eastern refused to back down, using a 3-0 run that was capped by a kill from Renata Lopez Morales to cut SU's lead to 17-16. From there, the Redhawks closed the set on an 8-2 run to claim set three 25-18 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Set four saw 10 ties and three lead changes, but it would end in EWU's favor as they stayed alive to force a fifth set. Tied 6-6, Eastern was the first team to pull ahead and led 9-6 and eventually 11-7. After the set moved into an 18-18 tie, the Eagles regained momentum and closed set four on a 7-2 run to stay alive, 25-20.
 
Seattle U held a 5-4 lead in the fifth and final set, but EWU worked to take an 8-5 lead following a 4-0 scoring run that included a block by Ehu Keala and Bacon. Eastern Washington hung on to a 10-9 lead before they went on a 3-0 run that ended with a kill from Lopez Morales. After a Seattle timeout, Blotzer found a kill to lead 14-10. Bacon would seal the deal with a kill to give the Eagles a 15-11 set five win en route to the 3-2 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington improves to 4-4 overall this season while Seattle U falls to 3-8. The Eagles picked up their first win over the Redhawks since Sept. 16, 2014, which was also a five-set victory at Reese Court.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Sadie Bacon hit .471 on the day with a career-high 20 kills and just four errors on 34 total attempts. Ashlyn Blotzer followed with 14 kills and two errors on 21 attempts, hitting .571. Blotzer also led the team with five block assists and Bacon had two service aces.
 
Two Eagles in Makenna Collins (14) and Ehu Keala (12) notched double-digit digs, while Ellie Garrett and Sophia Spoja each had nine.
 
Ellie Garrett and Lindsey Russell split the setting duties once again, totaling 28 and 25 assists, respectively. Garrett also had two aces.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles hit .288 on the day with 68 kills and 21 errors on 163 total attempts. Seattle U hit at a .233 clip with 61 kills and 24 errors on 159 total attempts. The Eagles out-blocked SU 10-to-3 and were just edged in aces, 5-4.
 
Seattle also had the advantage in digs, 65-61, but EWU had 55 assists to SU's 53.
 
UP NEXT: The EWU Volleyball Classic concludes non-conference play for the Eagles. Big Sky action gets underway next week with matches at Southern Utah on Sept. 23 and at Northern Arizona on Sept. 25. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.