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Eastern Illinois Athletics wrapped up its 20th year as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in May.  As a way to celebrate the many accomplishments, both team and individual during that time period, EIU conducted an online poll during the month of May for fans to help select the Top 20 athletes of the Panthers OVC Era.  During the month of June we will unveil the top 20 athletes as selected by the more than 2,500 fan votes submitted.  The original list of 40 athletes was comprised by a committee looking at a variety of criteria including Player of the Year, All-American selection and multiple time first-team All-OVC honors.  
 
#14 Erica Gerth (2001-04)
 
Erica Gerth left her mark on the Eastern Illinois volleyball program beginning her career with a trip to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman and ending it with a regular season OVC title playing from 2001-04.   She was a member of the OVC All-Newcomer team as a freshman as the Panthers made their only NCAA Tournament appearance to date falling to Arizona in the opening round.  Gerth would become a focal point of the offense during her time at EIU ranking as the school's career leader in both attack attempts and kills.  Her career kill total of 1,774 continues to rank first on EIU's career list and is the fifth highest total in OVC history.  She currently ranks third on the EIU career list for service aces with 171 and was the school record holder in digs with 1,666 until the record was broken during the 2015 season.  She was a first team All-OVC selection as a junior and senior while earning Academic All-America honors both of those seasons.   As a senior she was named the OVC Volleyball Player of the Year, the OVC Overall Female Athlete of the Year, a first team All-Midwest Region selection and honorable mention All-American. 
 
Gerth was inducted into the EIU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010 and currently works in the nursing profession in Naperville, Ill.

EIU OVC Era Top 20 Countdown
#20 - Meleah Cutler (Volleyball / 1996-99)
#19 - Sean Lyons (Baseball / 1996-99)
#18 – Rick Kaye (Men's Basketball / 1995-98)
#17 – Jade Riebold (W Track / 2012-14)
#16 – Rachel Galligan (W Basketball / 2006-09)
#15 – Cara LeMaster (W Soccer / 1999-02)