CHENEY, Wash.—Eastern Washington's fast start deflated the Vandals Saturday night at Reese Court. Eastern took the match 25-21, 25-19, 25-22, remaining undefeated in conference play. Senior Katelyn Peterson lead Idaho with 11 kills.

Idaho hit just .135 to EWU's .314. The Eagles totaled 12 more kills than Idaho, 46-34. Idaho outblocked Eastern 7-4 on the night.  

Tineke Bierma was strong in the first two sets, leading the Idaho offense. She finished with seven kills. Redshirt freshman Kaela Straw added seven kills, Laine Waters found the ground three times. Eastern's Ana Jokovljeic led the Eagles with 11 kills. 

“Eastern is a great team,” head coach Debbie Buchanan noted. “They have got five seniors and play with a lot of confidence. We just talked in the locker room about playing too tight. Our experienced players did not start making swings until late. We have to come out with that strong mentality, reduce our errors and just play.”

Eastern Washington (9-6, 4-0) opened the first set on a 9-3 streak. Bierma cut the Eagles' advantage to 14-7 midway through the set and a Terra Varney ace cut the EWU lead to six on the next point. Another Bierma kill combined with an Eagle error gave Idaho a 4-1 run, bringing them to within five at 15-10. EWU answered with a 4-0 run of its own to gain a nine-point lead at 19-10. An Idaho set error gave the Eagles set point at 24-19. Kills by Bierma and Peterson fought off two set-points, before EWU's Alexis Wesley ended it at 25-21.

Idaho (4-12, 1-3) got down early, 8-2, in the second after a 5-0 Eastern run. Idaho cut the lead to 15-9 with a Bierma kill. An EWU error got Idaho to within five, before the Eagles rattled off the next four points, going back up by six at 17-11. The Vandals chipped away late, getting to 23-18, when kills from Nicole Rigoni and Wesley ended the set.

The Vandals got down 10-5 in the third set. A 4-2 run for the Eagles opened the lead to 15-8. A Jokovljic ace put Idaho in a 19-12 hole, before going on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 19-16. Back-to-back Idaho errors put EWU up 22-17, forcing an Idaho timeout. The Silver and Gold came back firing with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 22-21. The Vandals got outscored, 3-1, in the final points as EWU took the set 25-22.

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com.  Fans can also follow Idaho volleyball on Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.

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