The final stretch of the regular season continued Friday night (Nov. 18) as Eastern Washington volleyball looked to clinch a spot in the postseason and knock off Northern Colorado, the defending champions. Eastern dropped the game in five sets [25-14, 25-16, 11-25, 19-25, 9-15].

The Eagles now sit at 5-10 in conference and 10-17 overall this season. With the win, Northern Colorado is the outright Big Sky regular season champions. After winning the first two sets, Eastern could not close out the Bears.

"I was really impressed with a lot of what we did tonight, and I love how we came out and battled all night," head coach Jon Haruguchi said. "It came down to two bad rotations in the third and fourth sets. The fifth set is a total throw your hands up situation where anything can happen. I think we showed ourselves, our fans and UNC where our program is going. We had a lot of positives tonight."

Renata Lopez Morales had a season-high, 15 kills, one shy of her career best. The senior was efficient on the attack as well, hitting .481.

"I think that we played together and that is Eastern volleyball out there," Lopez Morales explained. "It has been a really long process and you can see how much effort the players and coaches put in to get better. We have grown so much and we have more to grow, so I'm very excited."

To begin the game, Eastern was not backing down from the Bears. The Eagles jumped out to an 8-3 lead with Ellie Garrett serving, who added an ace to power the run. Eastern continued to maintain its advantage as Renata Lopez Morales was swinging well on the night. After a kill from Alyssa Radke, the Eagles had a 17-7 lead over UNC. A 4-0 run from the Bears cut the lead down to single digits, but Eastern stayed composed. They marched ahead and closed out the set, 25-14, and were up 1-0 on UNC.

Eastern's offense rolled in the first set, hitting .321. They held UNC to a .032 attack percentage.

In the second set, the teams traded points early with Lopez Morales and Katie Fleck trading off with kills for Eastern. After being tied at six, Eastern put together a 6-1 stretch to take the lead. The Eagles would further extend their lead to 16-9 on an ace from Sage Brustad. The set settled back into both teams exchanging kills, but Eastern had enough of an advantage to stay in the lead. With the separation, the Eagles won the second set, 25-16, and now had a 2-0 lead on the Bears.

It was another offensive clinic from Eastern, finishing with a white-hot .462 attack percentage. UNC hit .194 in the set.

Down two sets, the Bears hit back in the third set, building a slim 6-5 lead. The Bears then overwhelmed the Eagles with a 12-0 run. Brustad fired in two kills to try and get some energy back for Eastern. The damage was done, and UNC extended the game with a 25-11 win in set three.

Now in the fourth set, the Eagles and UNC battled close as Lopez Morales and Sadie Bacon provided the offense for Eastern. With the Bears leading 8-7, they gradually began to pull away for the Eagles. UNC extended its lead out to 16-11. Eastern would fight back with a pair of blocks from Alyssa Radke. The offense for Bears carried the team down the stretch and they would tie the game at two sets with a 25-19 win in the second.

On the attack, Eastern hit only .088, while the Bears had a .289 attack percentage during the set.

The game moved to the decisive fifth set, and it was clear UNC had the momentum. They quickly took a 6-1 lead over Eastern. Lopez Morales and Brustad made a push to get the set under control, each with an early kill. The Eagles continued to fight and cut the lead down to 11-8 with Bacon and Brustad joining on the block. The Bears would then close the set on a 4-1 run to win 15-9 and secure the game 3-2.

Eastern had a .185 attack percentage for the game. Northern Colorado hit .250. 

Key Statistics
Eastern Washington out-blocked UNC 14 to seven in the game. Alyssa Radke set a career-high with seven total blocks, getting four solo and two assists. Renata Lopez Morales added six total blocks with four assists and two solo.

Lindsey Russell recorded 39 assists and nearly had a double-double with eight digs. Russell has 19 games this season with 30 or more assists.

Sadie Bacon recorded seven kills and had a .294 attack percentage, adding three block assists.

Morgan Blazzard recorded her fourth career double digit dig game, her first since Sep. 17 against Texas A&M-Commerce.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will look to clinch a spot in the postseason tomorrow night against Northern Arizona at Reese Court, with first serve at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. The game will also be senior night for Lindsey Russell, McKenna Russell, Renata Lopez Morales, Leah McAdams and Ka'ehukaiiha'amaina'e Keala.