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Eastern faces N. Colorado in semi-finals on SWX

by EWU Athletics

After finishing the regular season 18-10, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team will turn their attention to the Northern Colorado Bears as they will meet in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Championships this Friday at 7 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court in Cheney.

During the regular season, the Eagles swept the Bears in both of their matches. Both teams finished 12-4 in the league, but EWU enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed by virtue of the season sweep.

They first met on Oct. 17 in Greeley, Colo., and Ashley Hamilton led the Eagles to a 3-1 victory over the Bears. Hamilton finished that match with a triple-double, contributing 43 assists, 14 digs and 11 kills. Eastern shut-out the Bears 3-0 on Nov. 13 at Reese Court in their last meeting, with senior Hayley Hills leading the way with 17 kills and 14 digs.

"They do a good job on first contact -- their team has a lot of offensive options making them a tough team to deal with," said head coach Miles Kydd. "If we can limit their options then it will make it easier for us. And vice versa -- we need to be able to do a good job passing the first balls so we can dictate what is going on."

The No. 1 seed and defending champion Portland State Vikings will take on the No. 4 seed Montana Grizzlies in the 5 p.m. semifinal. The winners from the two semifinals will meet at 7 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 28) for the Big Sky Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles spilt their two matches this season against Montana and lost both of their matches against Portland State. The Eagles are 9-1 at Reese Court this year, with the lone loss coming to the Vikings. In the past three seasons (2007, 2008 and 2009) the Eagles are 26-5 at Reese Court, including 19-2 the last two seasons.

Eastern has won the tournament to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament twice in 1989 and 2001. Eight times the Eagles have finished as the BSC Tournament runner-up -- 1988, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Tournament passes, good for general admission to all three matches, are on sale for $15 either on-line (www.goeags.com) or at the door. Single-day prices are $10 for adults, $7 for students and $3 for children in grades K-12. Children 5-and-under are admitted free.

There are 300 free tickets for EWU students with valid identification available at the EWU Bookstore at the Pence Union Building or the EWU Athletic Ticket office at Reese Court. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.

The Eagles previously hosted the tournament in 2004, 2003, 2002 and 1989.