Tucson, Ariz. - The University of Nevada (1-4) volleyball team fell 3-1 to Eastern Washington (3-2) by scores of 25-19, 23-25, 22-25 and 21-25 at the Wildcat Classic by Marriott University Park being played at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. today. The loss is the second of the day for the Wolf Pack after a 3-0 setback to Arizona earlier in the day and leaves the team 1-4 on the season. The Eagles won for the second time on the day to improve to 3-2 on the year.
Nevada jumped to a 14-4 lead in set one and held on for the 25-19 victory. The Pack hit .182 and defensively held EWU to a negative .167 attack percentage.
Trailing most of set two the Pack closed within a point a 24-23 only to have the Eagles score the last point of the set to win 25-23 and even the match at one set apiece. Both teams hit .259 in the second set.
There were four ties and four lead changes in set three before EWU held on for the 25-22 victory to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Eagles used an 11-8 run to close out the set after it was tied at 14-14. EWU hit .171 in the set and the Pack negative .056.
EWU scored the first four points of set four but the Pack rallied to tie the score at 9-9. The Eagles scored the next three points and never trailed the rest of the way to win the final set 25-21 and match 3-1. Nevada hit .105 in set four and EWU .167
Junior Kylie Harrington led the Pack with a match-high 13 kills and libero Nicole Link posted a match-high 15 digs. Setters Tatiana Santiago and Sonnie Sei finished with 16 and 13 assists respectively.
Chenoa Coviare and Haley Hills had 11 kills each for EWU. Setters Ashley Hamilton and Amanda Yausie dished out 17 and 15 assists respectively. Hills topped the Eagles with nine digs.
Both teams struggled offensively as Nevada hit .112 in the match and EWU .100. Sophomore Brittni Yates had four blocks for the Pack as the team totaled six compared to eight for EWU.
Nevada will conclude play tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m versus Houston.
