Boxscore:  PDF | HTM

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Eastern Illinois volleyball finished a disappointing 2008 campaign with a four-set loss at Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon, ending the year at 5-24 overall and 2-16 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Panthers kept the match close, but still dropped the league match, 26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20.

Sophomore Alex Zwettler earned her sixth double-double of the season and 22nd in her career with identical 17 kills and digs.  Also earning duo-duo honors was freshman setter Hannah Deterding with 52 assists and 13 digs.

Fellow freshman Melanie Boykins set a new personal-high 13 kills off a .333 attack, while only committing four errors.  

Defensively, sophomore Jorie Dieter registered five total blocks (2 solo, 3 assisted) and junior libero Shaina Boylan upped 22 digs, while senior Laura Welsh, playing in her last match as a Panther, tallied 13 digs.

Set one featured nine ties and four lead changes as EIU tied it up at three and 17-apiece, while trailing by as many as five points.  The Panthers forced an APSU timeout as Alex Zwettler nailed a kill to put EIU up 22-21.  Jorie Dieter put away a kill to give EIU a set point at 24-22, but the home squad recovered behind two consecutive kills from Jessica Mollman.  Tied 24-all, the Panthers shot themselves in the foot with two straight hitting errors to give the first set to the Lady Govs, 26-24.

The second set had three ties but no lead changes as the Govs maintained a three-point advantage before pulling ahead, outscoring the Panthers 15 to 8 after a 10-all tie, to take a two-set lead into the break and winning 25-18.

The Panthers rebounded following the break and scored the first five points in set three.  However, APSU came through to tie it up at 14, 15, 17, 18, 22, and 23 before Alex Zwettler fired two straight kills to pick up the win, 25-23, to force a fourth stanza.

Set four was all APSU, as the Lady Govs jumped to a 6-1 lead and kept a three/four point advantage to ride out the win, 25-20.  The Govs swept the Panthers in both meetings this season after earlier downing EIU in Charleston.  However, that scenario is a reverse of last season when APSU was the lone OVC squad that the Panthers defeated in both meetings.

Four Lady Govs registered double-digit kill totals, led by Jessica Mollman's 17 put-a-ways and .484 kill mark.  The win moved APSU to 21-10 overall and 13-5 in the OVC to earn a fourth place league standing in the upcoming conference tournament next week, to be held at OVC co-champion Tennessee Tech.  That's a nice turnaround for the Lady Govs as APSU finished in last place in 2007.

Team-wise, EIU led Peay in digs (90 to 82) and aces (three to two), but trailed the remaining stat categories, including kills (57 to 65), attack average (.200 to .241), assists (56 to 60), and just barely in blocks (nine to ten).

The 2008 season marked several lows for a Panther squad, which included an 11-match three-set losing streak and lowest regular-season and OVC win mark in program history.  Besides finishing last in the league for the first time ever, the five wins is also the least wins for a Panther unit since the 1975 squad finished with only six victories.  Plus the two lone conference wins tops the previous OVC low of only three victories earned by the 2006 squad.

The Panthers lose only two players from this season's squad as seniors Lauren Sopcic and Laura Welsh ended their four and two year careers, respectively, in an EIU uniform.

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