The Eastern Eagles volleyball team played their final two games of the season at Reese Court; they lost both and failed to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

The Eagles dropped their first match of the weekend on Nov. 13 against the University of Northern Colorado, 3-1. Eastern lost the first two sets of the match but battled back in the third set, winning 29-27.

UNC would go on to win the fourth set 25-23, securing their victory.

“I thought that [UNC] played very well. They were the better team tonight, but I’m proud of where we’re at and I’m proud of what we’re doing,” said associate head coach Michael King.

The loss meant Eastern was tied for the eighth and the final spot in the Big Sky Tournament with Southern Utah University.

SUU defeated EWU on Oct. 2, which meant they controlled the head-to-head tiebreaker and Eastern would need to win their final game of the season and have SUU lose theirs.

On Nov. 15, the Eagles took on the top-ranked University of North Dakota, who came to Reese Court owning a 25-8 overall record .

Before the game, a senior night ceremony was held celebrating Talia Fernandez and Kelsey Julian. Combined, they have combined for over 200 matches played in their time at EWU. Both players took center court with their families and had their career accomplishments announced to the crowd.

“Knowing my family was in the crowd, watching for the first time since I left Hawaii was kind of overwhelming,” said Fernandez. “But at the same time I was ready for that last game.”

When the ceremony was completed, both teams took to the court and the Eagles team came out looking determined to keep their postseason hopes alive, winning the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-23.

UND would storm back, aided by 14 Eagle service errors, winning the next three sets to finish the Eagles’ season.

“I really liked the way we started the match and thought we did some things well in the first two sets,” said King. “After that, we made some mental errors and had some miscues from the service line that [UND] took advantage of.”

Fernandez was one of the top performers in her last match at Reese Court, recording 16 kills.

She also became the sixth player in EWU history to record 350 career blocks by totaling three in the senior night game.

The Eagles finished the season with a record of 9-20. They won only five conference matches, but they are looking forward to next season.

“This team is headed in a great direction, they are going to have great leaders heading into next season,” said Fernandez. “They definitely have the talent and work ethic, they just have to work out some kinks and they will have a good shot at making the tournament.”