OGDEN, Utah — The Eastern Washington University volleyball team battled Weber State for the second day in a row (Jan. 23) in Ogden, Utah. The Eagles had two players earn double-doubles and three reach double-digit kills while hitting at a .255 clip as a team, but fell in four sets (20-25, 25-21, 17-25, 22-25).
Ka’ehukaiiha’amaina’e Keala and Katie Fleck each had 15 kills, while Sage Brustad followed closely with 12. Keala also earned a double-double with a career-best 16 digs, joining Lindsey Russell who had 50 assists and 13 digs in her first career start.
Catelyn Linke totaled 21 digs and moved into 10th all-time in EWU history for career digs with 978 total.
“That was a phenomenal game that could’ve gone either way,” EWU head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud said. “Ehu jumped in and played six rotations, which is huge for us. She has been a sophomore that we have definitely talked about playing six rotations, and she did that tonight and did a wonderful job.”
EWU’s best set came in the second frame as they hit .324 with 16 kills and five errors of 34 total attempts. Eastern Washington worked to build a 12-7 lead, but the sides would go point-for-point with neither team able to lead by more than two points. That was until a 3-0 run by the Eagles helped them pull ahead 22-18. Weber State would threaten and made it a 23-21 match, but back-to-back kills from Brustad helped EWU claim the second set, 25-21, and even the match.
Set four was also closely contested with each side trading points to wind up in a 13-13 tie. Weber State broke away following a 5-0 run to lead 18-13, but EWU responded right away thanks to Fleck who delivered two kills and a block for a 3-0 run to come within two points, 18-16.
Down 24-20, Eastern Washington fought off set point twice once again following kills from Brustad and Fleck, but the Wildcats had the final say and won set four 25-22 and the match 3-1.
This marked the first weekend of action for both teams, as Eastern Washington falls to 0-2 overall and in Big Sky play, while Weber State is 2-0. On Jan. 22, the Eagles started fast against the Wildcats, winning the first set 25-18 before dropping the final three, 15-21, 21-25 and 10-25, to lose the match 3-1.
In that contest, five players made their Eastern Washington debuts, including redshirt-sophomore Maya McClellan who led the team with 11 kills.
“We did some good things and came out gunning for them. We have to do better in the serve and pass game,” Flores-Cloud said of the opener. “One of the things we talked about tonight was how we did a phenomenal job communicating to our teammates. I want to give kudos to our bench and the culture change that we have this season, it’s remarkably different.”
After rallying to retaken the lead 11-9, Eastern then used a 4-0 run to open a 21-14 advantage in winning the first set. Their best set came in the third game, as they collected 13 kills on 32 attempts with only six errors to swing at a .219 clip.
Trailing 7-4, McClellan earned back-to-back kills that sparked a 4-0 run and helped the Eagles take an 8-7 lead. Weber State would regain momentum, but Eastern Washington kept it close until four-straight points from the Wildcats helped them pull ahead 20-14. The Eagles would come back within two points, 21-19, and fought off set point twice thanks to back-to-back kills from Ashlyn Blotzer and Katie Fleck, but they were edged 25-21 as Weber State took a 2-1 lead in the match
Eastern Washington returned home for five-straight home matches, beginning with a non-conference matchup against Northwest Nazarene on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
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