Box Score (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- A one-two punch from junior Emily Franklin and sophomore Reynae Hutchinson off respective 13 and 11 kills, helped Eastern Illinois volleyball sweep Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) on Friday night.

The Panthers improve to 8-15 overall and 5-7 in league play as the squad is currently on a four-match winning streak.  The victory over the Tigers (12-8/8-5) helped to avenge an early-season three-set defeat at TSU as EIU opened Homecoming action in fine form.

Hutchinson added a team-high 11 digs to register her fourth consecutive kill-dig double-double.  That ups her season mark to nine and 12 all-time.

Franklin finished one dig shy of her own duo-duo, as she tied sophomore Stephanie Arnold with a .308 attack.  As a team, the Panthers hit a season-high .333 for the match, as compared to just .142 for the Tigers

Junior Alison Berens led all attackers with a .467 clip off eight kills and just one miscue.  She also tied Arnold with four stuffs apiece as EIU dominated the net game with an eight to two block advantage.

Junior serving specialist Kat Gosewisch once again led the Panthers with two aces on the night as the Panthers out-served the Tigers, four to one.

In other team stats, EIU topped TSU in kills (41 to 38), assists (39 to 36), digs (40 to 35), and points (53.0 to 41.0).

The Panthers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening frame and never looked back, eventually pushing the lead to 11-3.  EIU would maintain the eight-point cushion en route the relatively easy 25-17 win.

In the second set, TSU countered to lead early at 2-0, but Eastern tied it up at 2-all before pushing ahead at 5-2.  The Tigers would tie it up at 10-all and even take the lead at 15-13, but TSU miscues and a Gosewisch ace, followed by a Franklin kill would force the visitors to burn a timeout as the Panthers now lead 17-15.  The set would remain close the rest of the way with EIU leading by three most of the way, yet TSU had one final push with Eastern at set-point at 24-23, but an easy over-pass put-down by Berens would give the home squad the early 2-0 match lead.

The final frame was a classic example of side-out play with neither squad ahead by more than two points.  Tied at 19-all, the Panthers finished strong with a 6-0 run, with included two kills each from Berens and Franklin, to earn the first home sweep of the season.

With the win, which took only an hour and 15 minutes, the Panthers enjoy a 24-6 all-time Division I series lead over the Tigers.

EIU will prepare for a Saturday evening home match versus Austin Peay.  First serve is set for 6 p.m. as the Panthers will honor several returning volleyball standouts as EIU celebrates the 30th season as a Division I program, while also recognizing several returning conference championship squads through the years.

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