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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Eastern Illinois volleyball dropped an Ohio Valley Conference road match on Saturday as the Panthers were swept by Austin Peay (26-24, 25-20, 25-10). The EIU loss, the second straight, gives the Panthers their first losing record of the season as Eastern falls to 8-9 overall and just 1-4 in league play.

Freshman Reynae Hutchinson continued her strong performance in OVC matchups as the outside hitter led all players with 10 kills, adding seven digs, as well as an ace and block.

Senior Kelsey Orr finished with nine kills and sophomore Alison Berens added six put-a-ways.

Chrissie Albers led the setting game as the junior dished out 23 assists and nailed three of her five total attacks. Defensively, senior Alex Zwettler finished with 12 digs as the starting libero for the fifth straight match.

Austin Peay (14-3/5-1) has now won the last five matchups between the two league rivals. The home squad ended up topping EIU in kills (41 to 33), attack (.272 to .194), assists (40 to 30), digs (56 to 41), and points (57 to 41). The Panthers did out-block the Lady Govs, seven to six, however and finished with one less attack error.

The big stat was in the service numbers as APSU converted 10 aces to just one for the Panthers. 

The Panthers actually had a chance to pick-up the first set win, as they were serving at set-point up 24-23, but the host team would tie it and eventually earn the hard-fought 26-24 opening win. In that set alone, there were 13 ties and six lead changes.

The second frame, which featured four ties and two changes in the lead, had the Panthers playing well as led Peay 13-8 at one point. Eastern continued their advantage until the Govs would pull even at 19-all. At that point APSU would go on a 6-1 run to take the early two set lead.

After a one-all tie, the third set was all APSU, as the Lady Govs rattled off nine straight points to take the big lead to eventually earn the 25-10 rout. The ten points in that set marked the lowest point total by a Panther squad in an individual set all season.

No APSU player finished in double-digit kills, although three -- Nikki Doyle, Ilyanna Hernandez, and Taylor Skinner, all tied with nine put-downs. Paige Economos led the digging game as she upped 20 Panther attacks.

The Panthers will look to turn around the squad's recent slump, hosting defending OVC champion Jacksonville State this coming Friday evening, followed by a Saturday afternoon match against Tennessee Tech. First serve is scheduled for 7 pm and 2 pm for each league matchup, respectively, in Lantz Arena.

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