MOSCOW, Idaho— The home-struggles for the Idaho Vandals continued on Saturday night inside Memorial Gym. Idaho dropped its sixth five-set match of the season to Eastern Washington, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-7, marking the midway point of the Big Sky season.

"I think it was a disappointing loss for us," head coach Debbie Buchanan explained. "We had our opportunity. We battled and had momentum. We just came out flat in game five. That is where we really have to come out and execute and we did not."

The loss dropped the Vandals to 2-6 at Memorial Gym as well as in conference play. The Vandals had four players with double figure kills, led by Kaela Straw's 13. Becca Mau added 12 kills for Idaho. DeVonne Ryter totaled a career-high 11 kills to lead the team with a .588 attack percentage. Sarah Sharp rounded offense with 11 kills.

Idaho (7-13, 2-6 BSC) came back after a 25-19 loss in the third set to tie the match in the fourth, 25-21. Ryter and Sharp led the Vandals in the fourth, recording three kills apiece. A 5-0 run for the Vandals put them in control of the set, 15-13. A kill from Haylee Mathis started a 3-0 run for Idaho, pushing the lead to 21-17. Straw's 11th kill of the night closed the set for Idaho, forcing a fifth frame.

"We did do some good thing as far as taking control of the match," Buchanan noted. "As we get into game five we need to stay in and execute the plays. We are just being a little undisciplined on defense."

EWU (10-7, 5-3 BSC) jumped out in front early in the fifth and never let up. The Eagles opened on a 3-0 run. The teams switched sides of the court with EWU in the midst of a 4-0 run, ending at 9-3. Another 3-0 push from EWU opened up an eight point lead, 12-4. Taylor Larsen's match-high 22nd kill ended the night for Idaho.

"We are not going to make the tournament if we do not get some wins," Buchanan stated. "We really need to get it turned around here. We are so close and these guys have to start getting over the hump and competing all the way through to the end."

Mathis ended the night with her fifth double-double of the season. She handed out 25 assists to go with her 12 digs. Terra Varney led Idaho with 25 digs. Ryter, Straw and Sharp each totaled two blocks.

The Vandals head out on the road next week, taking on Sacramento State and Portland State. Idaho will take on the Hornets on Thursday, Oct. 20, and then head north to battle the Vikings on the 22nd.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.