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CHARLESTON, Ill. – For the second consecutive match, four Eastern Illinois volleyball players notched double-digit kill numbers as the Panthers picked up a nice four-set victory over visiting Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin (21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17).

With the win, EIU improved to 10-17 overall and 3-11 in league play. UT Martin, however, has now dropped eight consecutive matches to fall to 7-17 and 2-12. In fact, the Skyhawk's last victory came against the Panthers earlier this month down in Martin, Tenn. 

Eastern has now won back-to-back matches for the first time since early September, following the Panthers win at Tennessee State last weekend.

“This was a really good win for us,” said first year head coach Alan Segal. “We did a great job of taking care of the ball, which is something I stressed to the girls in practice and before the match. We came out and passed the ball really well in serve-receive and then dug the heck out of the ball as well. Plus, we only had one serving error in the last two sets. And more importantly, we nearly had five players hit in double-figures. If you do those kinds of things in a match, good things will happen. Hopefully we can maintain this level of execution during the remainder of our homestand.” 

Leading all Panther hitters was junior Kelsey Orr with 14 kills, while her 14 digs helped her earn her third double-double of the year and 14th all-time.

In a close second kill-wise was sophomore middle Melanie Boykins and junior outside Alex Zwettler with 12 put-a-ways apiece. Plus Zwettler tallied her 15th duo-duo of the year and 37th of her career, with the addition of 18 digs. Sophomore setter Chrissie Albers recorded her third 40+ assist/10+ dig performance in the win, as she finished with 45 assists and 14 ups. Plus she had two blocks. 

EIU's lone senior, Jessica Wheeler, had an additional 11 kills and led all Panthers with five blocks, plus thanks to a wicked serve, she tallied four aces. 

Defensively, sophomore libero Brittany Wallace finished with 26 digs, while both Boykins and junior middle Jorie Dieter stuffed four blocks apiece, with Dieter earning a key solo roof at one point in the match. 

Team-wise, the Panthers lead the visiting Skyhawks in every statistical category, including team totals in kills (63 to 46), attack percentage (.238 to .120), assists (59 to 44), aces (six to five), digs (93 to 69), and blocks (10.0 to 7.5). In fact, the 59 assists, 93 digs and 79.0 points all set new season-highs for the squad. 

The 'Dig Pink' and 'Dig for a Cure' breast cancer awareness match didn't start too well for the Panthers as the home squad found themselves down early in set one. But a 3-0 UTM lead would eventually turn into an 11-6 Panther lead as EIU went on an eight-point run thanks to several Skyhawk errors and Eastern kills. However, the Skyhawks would recover and end up tying the set at 15-all, as the squad enjoyed their own streak of points. Eventually UTM would lead 21-17 before gutting out the 25-21 win. 

The second set, which featured seven ties and three lead changes, started off tight with the Panthers only able to lead by no more than three points all the way up to 17-14. EIU would then pull ahead, 20-15, off a Jorie Dieter kill, causing UTM to call time out. The break worked as the Skyhawks would go on a 5-0 run to tie it at 20-all thanks to three consecutive service aces by Britany Wilburn. EIU would again enjoy a two point lead up 22-20, but UTM would tie it again at 22-all. In fact, the visitors had the ball and were serving for set-point up 24-23. If the Skyhawks could pull out the win they would have a huge two-set to none lead in the match. Unfortunately, the mostly partisan home crowd of 467 started making some noise and helped cheer on the Panthers to a 24-all tie, thanks to another UTM miscue. Eventually, a Melanie Boykins put-down and another Skyhawk error would give EIU the set, 26-24, and tie the match at one-set apiece. 

“Coming back after losing the first set, and nearly dropping the second frame, we really learned how to compete tonight, which showed once we won the last three games,” said Segal. “Having everyone healthy, for almost the first time all season, naturally helped tonight, too. But at this point of the season, if we keep playing like we did tonight, we are going to make teams have to beat, instead of beating ourselves with errors as in previous losses.”

Following the break, the rest of the match went pretty much in the Panthers' favor, as the Skyhawks were only able to tie the match twice more and never lead. Set three had the Panthers up 11-4 before the Skyhawks cut into the EIU advantage, but with Eastern passing the ball well and keeping the ball in play off some tremendous diving digs on long rallies, the lead was too much for the visitors to overcome as EIU won, 25-15. 

The final saw the home squad take a 4-0 lead enroute to the 25-17 victory. The win marked the first home league victory for the Panthers on the season and snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Skyhawks. However, Eastern still holds a sizeable all-time series lead over UTM, 18-12. 

“Things are going in the right direction and I'm really proud of this squad,” Segal said. 

Leading the Skyhawks were juniors Lauren Montague and Katie Redman behind 15 and 13 kills, respectively.  Freshman libero Kasey Elswick finished with 22 ups, while sophomore Britany Wilburn fired off three aces to lead her squad.

Making her first appearance of the season was former volunteer assistant coach Lauren Schutte, as the setter donned her #18 uniform and came into the match in sets three and four, sparking the Panthers to the win, thanks to a couple of key dump kills and assisting in a triple block of the Skyhawk attack. Prior to what would have been her fifth year senior season, the setter decided to give up you scholarship to finish up her degree. However, with the departure of freshman Andrea Johnson, the Louisville native was able to rejoin the team. 

The Panthers will next host league rival Murray State tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm, in the second of a season-long six-match homestand. The Racers previously downed the Panthers in the first meeting this season, and are currently enjoying a seven-match winning streak over Eastern. At tomorrow's match, there will be a Halloween costume contest and other fun activities for fans of all ages.

… for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID