Back at home for the first time in Big Sky Conference play, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team is hosting Sacramento State and Portland State on back-to-back nights. The Eagles first host the Hornets on Thursday, Sept. 30 before clashing with the Vikings on Oct. 1. Both matches are set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with live stats available on EWUStats.com.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 5-5 overall with a 1-1 mark in Big Sky play. The Eagles began conference action with a 3-2 victory at Southern Utah, starting 1-0 in the BSC for the first time since 2017. EWU wrapped up the road trip with a 3-0 loss at Northern Arizona.
 
As a team, the Eagles are hitting at a .206 clip with 12.33 kills per set to rank fourth in the conference. They are also fourth in both service aces (1.51) and digs (13.64) per set. After one full week of conference play, the Eagles are fifth in the conference standings.
 
On the individual front, Ashlyn Blotzer ranks second in the conference with a hitting percentage of .329, followed by Sadie Bacon who is swinging .301 to rank fifth. Setter Lindsey Russell is seventh with 6.03 assists per set and Makenna Collins also ranks seventh in aces per set with .35 and is 10^th in digs per set with 3.00.
 
Trio of Eagles in Maya McClellan, Bacon and Sage Brustad each average over two kills per set with 2.45, 2.09 and 2.03, respectively.
 
A LOOK AT THE HORNETS: Sacramento State is 5-7 overall and 0-2 in Big Sky play after falling in five sets at Idaho State and four sets at Weber State last weekend. This is the second-straight week the Hornets have played on the road.
 
Sacramento State is hitting .144 with 10.85 kills per set. They are the conference leaders in black with 112 total so far this year, averaging 2.33 per frame and the Hornets are also second in service aces per set with 1.56.
 
Bridgette Smith is their kills leader with 2.96 per set which is 10^th in the league. She is also fifth overall in service aces with .38. Other leaders include McKenna Smith with 6.27 assists per set and Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin with 1.16 blocks per set.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Eagles are 18-41 all-time against the Hornets with a 12-13 mark at home in Reese Court. After playing three-straight matches against Sacramento State on the road, the Eagles welcome them to Reese Court for the first time since 2019.
 
Just 2-8 overall against the Hornets in the last 10 matchups, EWU looks to top them at Reese Court for the first time since Oct. 8, 2015. The last overall win came on Nov. 2, 2019 in five sets in Sacramento, Calif.
 
Last March, Eastern dropped the first meeting to the Hornets in three sets but bounced back the next night, falling just short in five.
 
A LOOK AT THE VIKINGS: Portland State is 7-6 overall and are also 1-1 in Big Sky play after losing to Weber State, 3-1, but bouncing back to beat Idaho State, 3-2, to open conference action. Just like the Hornets, this is PSU's second week on the road, where they are 1-3 overall so far this year. Portland State will play at Idaho on Sept. 30 before making the trek to Cheney.
 
The Vikings swing .203, but hold their opponents to just a .192 clip. They lead the conference in assists per set (12.02) and digs per set (17.30), while ranking second in kills (12.89), fourth in blocks (2.07), and fifth in aces (1.50).
 
Portland State boasts the 2020-21 Big Sky Libero of the Year in Ellie Snook who is also the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week. She averages an impressive 5.45 digs per set to lead the Big Sky. Parker Webb is fourth in hitting percentage (.311) and second in kills per set (3.74), while Ally Wada is second in the league in assists per set with 9.28.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Eagles are 29-31 all-time against the Vikings and are riding a two-match win streak after back-to-back five set victories at Reese Court last season. All-time at Reese Court against PSU, Eastern is 17-12.
 
Last season's consecutive victories snapped a six-match losing streak to PSU and was Eastern's first since Oct. 10, 2015. EWU has won three out of the last 10 matchups.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington will stick around Cheney next week when they welcome Montana State and Montana to town on Thursday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 9. Thursday's match is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's is at 1 p.m. with both matches broadcasted on ESPN+.