CEDAR CITY, Utah -- After their last series against Montana State was canceled, the Southern Utah volleyball team will be hosting Eastern Washington to finish out their regular season play on Friday March 19 and Saturday March 20.

Last Time Out

The T-Birds were set to take on the Montana State Bobcats last weekend but the matches were canceled due to a positive COVID test within Montana State's program. 

The volleyball team's last series played was against the Idaho State Bengals and both matches were won by SUU in five sets. The two matches played out in similar fashions with the Thunderbirds taking the first set, ISU claiming the second and third, and the T-Birds winning the fourth and the fifth.

Andreanna McKee recorded 31 kills total over the course of the ISU series and recorded a new career-high after Sunday's game with 17 kills. Stacey Hone followed closely with 27 kills over the weekend and hit .414 in Saturday's match with just two attack errors in 29 attempts. 

The Thunderbird volleyball team is currently on a six match winning streak at home.

Big Sky At A Glance

As this is the last week of regular play, the Big Sky volleyball teams are looking forward to the 2021 Big Sky Spring Volleyball Championship which will be hosted by the Northern Colorado Bears in Greeley, Colorado March 31 through April 2. 

The top eight teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will proceed to the tournament. The T-Birds sit in sixth in the Big Sky with their 6-6 record, but could end up being the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth seed in the tournament depending on what happens this weekend.

Weber State is currently leading the conference with a 13-1 record. 

Scouting Report: Eastern Washington Eagles

The Eastern Washington Eagles are 6-9 this season overall and 5-9 in Big Sky play placing them in eighth in the conference. Their last series was split with the Idaho Vandals. The first match was a five-set loss and the second match was a four-set win.

Junior Ashlyn Blotzer totaled 27 kills during the Idaho series and comes in third for kills for the Eagles averaging 2.27 kills per set. Maya McClellan leads attacks averaging 2.48 per set and Sage Brustad follows closely with 2.44 per set. Senior Catelyn Link leads defensively in both service aces, with 16 this season, and digs with 307. 

The Eagles have already qualified for the 2021 Big Sky Spring Volleyball Championship. This will be their first time competing for the championship since 2016. Head Coach Leslie Flores-Cloud is in her third season with the Eagles.

Senior Night

Friday's game will include senior recognition for SUU volleyball's three graduates Makenzie Dowell, Elisa Lago, and Stacey Hone. 

Dowell has played four seasons with the Thunderbirds as a middle blocker from Layton, Utah. In her freshman season, Dowell played in 86 sets recording 88 kills and 101 digs on the season. Dowell's sophomore season, she competed in 73 sets and tallied 113 kills. Last season, she played 84 sets for the Thunderbirds with 61 blocks, 65 kills, 14 service aces and 32 digs. She also was named to the 2019 Fall Big Sky All-Academic Team. Dowell is majoring in Physical Education.

Lago has also been a four year player for the Thunderbirds as an outside hitter from Chioggia, Italy. During her freshman year, Lago was second on the team of recorded digs with 221 and 55 kills. She has appeared in 47 sets this season and is currently leading the Big Sky in service aces with 47 on the season averaging .55 per set. Lago is majoring in Biology.

Hone is in her second season with the T-Birds after playing at Snow College for two seasons. At Snow College, Hone was awarded All-Region and Academic All-NJCAA honors. Last year with the T-Birds, Hone was named Second Team All-Big Sky and finished second on the team in kills with 374. She also came in second on the team for points as she accounted for 410 and also had 60 blocks and 70 digs. Hone is majoring in Math Education.

Game Day Information

On Friday March 19 the first match of the weekend will be played at 7 p.m. MT with the next match starting at 6 p.m. MT on Saturday March 20.

Both matches will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 1055 and live stats can be followed at tbirdstats.com.

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Stay up to date during the 2020-21 Thunderbird Volleyball season by following @SUUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Volleyball page on Facebook.