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CHARLESTON, Ill. -- In the midst of a season-high three-match winning streak, Eastern Illinois will continue home play as the Panthers are set to enjoy Homecoming festivities and celebrate 30 years of NCAA DI volleyball versus Ohio Valley Conference rivals Tennessee State and Austin Peay.

At 7-15 overall and 4-7 in league action, the Panthers will entertain the Tigers and Lady Govs at Lantz Arena on Friday and Saturday evenings, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

COMPLETE WEEKEND OVC SLATE (all times central)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21
   • MUR at JSU ... 6 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
   • MOR at MUR ... 6 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
• TSU at EIU ... 7 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
   • APSU at SIUE ... 7 p.m.
   • SEMO at TTU ... 7 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22
   • EKU at UTM ... 2 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
   • MUR at TTU ... 2 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
   • TSU at SIUE ... 2 p.m.
• APSU at EIU ... 6 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
   • SEMO at JSU ... 6 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)

VOLLEYBALL WEEKEND CELEBRATION ON SATURDAY
As Eastern Illinois celebrates its 30th season of NCAA Division I volleyball this year, the athletic department will be hosting a reunion weekend during the EIU Homecoming festivities, as all former EIU volleyball student-athletes from any era were invited to attend this weekend event.

The weekend will kick off with the Panthers hosting Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 21).  Then on Saturday, a brunch will be held in Lantz Arena at 11 a.m.  Following the brunch, the EIU football team will host UT Martin at 1:30 p.m. at O'Brien Field.

The reunion will conclude with the 6 p.m. match on Saturday (Oct. 22) night against defending OVC Tourney champion Austin Peay in Lantz Arena.

At the EIU-APSU intermission between sets two and three, EIU will recognize all the returning volleyball alumni on the court for their outstanding contributions to the EIU volleyball program.

Included will be former members of various championship squads -- the 1982 squad (first to compete in NCAA Division I), the 1994 Mid-Continent West Division champions, the 1998 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champions, the 2001 OVC Tournament champion and NCAA participant, and the 2004 OVC regular-season co-champions.

Currently, over 35 former Panther volleyball student-athletes from the 1970s to the present are expected to partake in the weekend festivities.

Plus over the weekend, the recipient of the newly endowed Volleyball Alumni Scholarship will be announced.  The scholarship will be given yearly to an upperclassman with a 3.50 or higher GPA who also exhibit excellent leadership and work ethics in addition to their academic and athletic honors.  A selection committee has been created to determine the recipient of this scholarship each season.

QUICK LOOK AT THE WEEKEND COMPETITION
Tennessee State comes to town at 12-7 overall and 8-4 in league play which currently places them solidly in third place in the OVC standings.

Senior Shaquita Williams leads her squad with 290 kills (3.87 kps) and a .314 attack.  She also sports one of the toughest serves in the nation as she ranked No. 8 in all of NCAA, and No. 1 in the OVC with 43 aces (0.57 aps).  In addition, she has the second-best blocking total with 41 stuffs.

Fellow senior Terakka Walker is also an offense threat with 214 kills (2.85 kps) and is second in digs with 221.

Sophomore setter Erika Moss has dished out 755 assists (10.07 aps) for the season and is hitting .242 when in the front row.

In other defensive numbers, junior Britani Hathorn sports 318 digs (4.24 dps), and also has a mean service game with a second-best 21 aces.  In net defense, classmate Danielle Howell has made her presence known with 45 total blocks (0.60 bps).

The Tigers are led by Kathy Roulhac, who is in the midst of her eighth season as skipper of the TSU program.

Prior to traveling to SIU Edwardville on Friday night, the Lady Govs of Austin Peay are 6-16 overall and 4-7 in OVC action where they are tied with EIU for seventh place.

Senior Nikki Doyle leads her squad with 287 kills (3.46 kps) and a .215 attack.  She also is tops in the service game with 20 aces (0.24 aps) while owning the second-best dig numbers with 246 ups (2.96 dps).

Fellow senior Ilyanna Hernandez and newcomer Hillary Plybon sport close kill totals of 186 and 184, with Plybon also owning the best team attack at .229.  The duo are also one off in total aces with 11 and 10 unreturnable serves, respectively.

Freshman quarterback Cami Fields has 859 total assists (10.35 aps) and also has a triple-digit dig tally of 199.

On defense, long-time libero Paige Economos leads with 386 digs (4.65 dps), while sophomore Lauren Henderson controls the net with 78 blocks, which includes 18 solo stuffs.

The Lady Govs are under the direction of first-year coach Bill Egbert.

THE SERIES HISTORY VERSUS TSU & APSU
The Panthers will look to avenge a three-set loss at TSU earlier this season, which marked the first time that the Tigers have swept EIU on the volleyball court in the previous meetings.  In fact, the two feline squads will meet for the 30th time this weekend with EIU still maintaining a huge 23-6 lead in the all-time series.

The Panthers actually won the first 18 matchups after EIU joined the OVC back in 1996.  In fact, 16 of those first 18 victories came via three-set sweeps, or games as they were called back then.

In the three-set loss (25-16, 31-29, 26-24) at TSU back on Sept. 24, the Panthers had three players -- Alison Berens, Emily Franklin and Reynae Hutchinson -- nail nine kills apiece, while TSU's Shaquita Williams and Terakka Walker notched 15 and 12 put-aways, respectively.  TSU out-hit EIU .273 to .194 in the match, which featured 23 ties and nine lead changes in sets two and three alone.

The series history with APSU has tightened up the last few years, with the Panthers now leading 16-15 all-time, thanks to a four-set road win earlier this year, which snapped a six-match losing streak to the Lady Govs.  Ironically, prior to APSU's six-match streak, the Panthers actually enjoyed a six match win streak of their own.  Saturday's Homecoming contest will mark the 32nd DI meeting between the two league foes.

In a reverse of the match at TSU earlier this year, three Panthers -- Berens, Hutchinson, and Katie Kirby -- each blasted 14 kills apiece in the four-set win (24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22) at APSU on Sept. 23, as EIU out-hit the Lady Govs, .241 to .178 and won the blocking game via an eight to six lead.

A DOUBLE-DOUBLE THREAT
Three Panther hitters have combined for 15 kill-dig double-doubles this season.

Sophomore Reynae Hutchinson leads the team with eight on the year, including nabbing three straight duo-duo performances.  She now has 11 career double-doubles to her name.

Newcomer Katie Kirby has four such honors in her young Panther career, including nailing 14 kills and upping 10 attacks the last time EIU defeated Austin Peay.

Junior Emily Franklin, meanwhile, earned her third Eastern double-double with 16 kill snad 11 digs in the key four-set home win over instate rival Illinois-Chicago this past Monday.

WALLACE SHINES IN THE BACK COURT
Coming two digs shy of her career high, senior libero Brittany Wallace recorded a season-high 26 digs as she led all players on the court versus Illinois-Chicago this past Monday.

For the season she has nine matches with 15 or more digs.  While in her career, she has notched 40 such performances.  She leads all Panthers with 267 ups for a 3.46 digs-per-set mark.

SEEING DOUBLE, PART TWO
Not to be out-done, the two setters for EIU have earned an impressive seven assist-dig double-doubles this season.

Senior quarterback Chrissie Albers sports five performances this year, including three consecutive road duo-duos at UTM, JSU and TTU.  She came just two digs shy of her fourth straight mark in the big win over UIC on Monday, nabbing a season-high 55 assists and eight digs.

Meanwhile, newcomer Jill Johnson earned her second assist-dig double-double recently against at SEMO.

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