The Eastern Washington University volleyball team continued on its Texas road trip this afternoon as they opened play at the UIW Cardinal Classic in San Antonio, Texas (Sept. 3). The Eagles faced The Summit League member St. Thomas and picked up the four-set victory (25-22, 20-25, 25-21, 25-19) to improve to 2-2 on the year.

"Our serving today was strong with 11 aces. We were able to execute and our offense got better in set three and four and we took care of what we needed to take care of. There are a lot of things we need to get better at, but I'm really happy with the team's effort tonight," said head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud.
 
The opening set was close to start, with four ties in the early going, but the Eagles would never trail. With the match tied 11-11, a kill by Renata Lopez Morales prompted a 4-0 run by EWU to pull ahead 15-11. Eastern had a 21-17 lead late in the set when St. Thomas threatened with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to a point. In all, the Tommies strung together a 5-1 run to tie the set at 22-22 all. But the Eagles kept their composure and earned the final three points. Sadie Bacon delivered the set-winning ace and the Eagles started the day 1-0 following a 25-22 victory.
 
Eastern Washington played catch-up from the start in set two, but found a 6-1 run to gain a 13-11 lead that later built to 19-17. St. Thomas then took advantage of some Eagle errors to pull ahead 21-19 and closed the set on four-straight kills to win 25-20 and even the match 1-1.
 
Set three started with a 6-1 run that included two aces from Lindsey Russell plus one from Sophia Spoja along with kills from Alyssa Radke, McKenna Russell and Maya McClellan to help EWU jump out to a 7-4 lead. After the teams went point-for-point, a 3-0 run that included two kills from Sage Brustad and one from Lindsey Russell put EWU in the lead for good, 18-14. Eastern pulled away 23-19 only to have St. Thomas cut the lead to two points, but McClellan was there with the set-winning kill and Eastern went back up 2-1 following the 25-21 win.
 
The crucial fourth set saw eight ties and two lead changes and the Tommies had the advantage with a 14-12 lead. Eastern found its groove, using an impressive 11-2 run to pull ahead 23-16. The run was highlighted by consecutive aces from McClellan and two kills from Ashlyn Blotzer. A St. Thomas service error and a kill by Ehu Keala proved to be all the Eagles needed to finish off the match, winning set four 25-19 and the match 3-1.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: In the first-ever meeting between the two foes, the Eagles moved to 2-2 overall following the win while St. Thomas drops to 1-3.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Freshman Alyssa Radke led the way with 11 kills and Maya McClellan followed with nine. Ashlyn Blotzer led the team in hitting percentage, swinging .429 with eight kills and only two errors on 14 swings.
 
Five Eagles notched two service aces each in McClellan, Sage Brustad, Lindsey Russell, Makenna Collins and Sadie Bacon. Lindsey Russell and Ellie Garrett split the setting duties once again, compiling 26 and 18, respectively.
 
On the defensive side, Collins led the way with 15 digs while Sophia Spoja and Brustad each had 13. Garrett came just shy of her second consecutive double-double with nine digs. Bacon led Eastern Washington with five blocks, while Brustad and Renata Lopez Morales each had three.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Serving was the difference, as the Eagles notched 11 aces to the Tommies' two. Eastern hit .179 on the day with 49 kills and 21 errors on 156 tries. The Tommies hit .188 with 43 kills and 18 errors on 133 total attempts.
 
Eastern out-blocked St. Thomas, 8-6, but were edged in digs 76-65.
 
UP NEXT: The UIW Cardinal Classic continues tomorrow with a match against the hosts, Incarnate Word, at 2 p.m. Pacific time in San Antonio, Texas.