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CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois volleyball squad defeated visiting Austin Peay, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon in both squad's season finale. EIU topped the Govs, 30-18, 24-30, 30-20, 32-30 on senior day as the home squad honored Maren Crabtree and Eliza Zwettler prior to the match.
With the win, Eastern finishes the season with a 12-17 overall and 5-15 Ohio Valley Conference record, snapping a six-match slump. Austin Peay drops to 8-25 and 4-16.
Playing in their final match as a Panther, both seniors delivered as Eliza Zwettler set a new personal best kill total with 28, behind a .373 hitting average. The Madison, Wisc. native also nabbed her 32nd career double-double in an EIU uniform by adding 22 digs to the mix.
Maren Crabtree recorded 20 digs to move her career dig total to 1,354, which ranks her in EIU's top-10 list, placing ninth. Her two assists pushed her final assist total to 4,637, to finish second on the all-time list.
Another highlight for the Panthers was the 20 kills by freshman Alex Zwettler, which earned her the new single-season freshman kill record. Her total of 355 kills tops former EIU standout Erica Gerth's 2001 total of 349. Alex also notched her 16th double-double of the year, adding a team-high 24 digs.
Also hitting in double-figures for EIU was junior Lauren Sopcic, who nailed 12 kills behind a .423 attack average, committing only one error. Sophomore setter Lauren Schutte recorded a new personal best 61 assists on the day, and also earned her own double-double, adding 10 digs. Sophomore libero Laura Welsh contributed 19 digs of her own.
Lauren Sopcic and freshman Jorie Dieter both finished with five blocks a piece, as the Panthers out-blocked the Govs, ten to six.
Throughout most of the match, each squad played extensive volley play behind excellent defense with the ball moving back and forth an average of six times for each point, including one volley that crossed the net 15 times before a point was earned.
The Panthers opened the contest with a .488 hitting mark behind 21 kills and only one error as a team. EIU won the first game 30-18, breaking a 7-7 tie to outscore the visitors 11 to 3 and earn the easy win.
In the second game, the Lady Govs held a two-point lead for much of the stanza before breaking out to tie the match a game a piece, winning 30-24. Peay out-hit (.211 to .133) and out-blocked EIU (3-2) in that game to earn the win.
Following the break, EIU rebounded, jumping out to an 8-2 lead, but the Govs pulled within 11-10 before the Panthers outscored Peay, 15 to 8 to take a game advantage, winning 30-20.
Game four featured 13 ties and six lead changes as both squads played nearly point-for-point before EIU pulled ahead 21-16. But Austin Peay made an incredible recovery, out-scoring EIU 11-2 to take the lead at 26-23. The Lady Govs continued holding a two/three-point advantage, including two chances to take the game at 29-27 and 29-28, but Eliza Zwettler nailed a kill to tie it up at 29. EIU had one chance to win at 30-29, but Peay placed a kill to continue the play at 30-apiece. EIU's Jessica Wheeler gave the Panthers the advantage and Eliza Zwettler nailed her final career kill to finish the comeback and win the match, 32-30.
The Govs were led by Kirstin Distler and Taylor Skinner, who nailed 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Libero Kristen Kirch was a one person digging machine, leading all players with 39 ups.
Besides winning the blocking game, EIU also out-hit (77-51 kills, .270 to .137 hitting percentage) and out-dug (107-90) the Lady Govs, but trailed in service aces (9-7).
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
