Box Score

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The #6-Seed Eastern Illinois volleyball squad fought #3-Belmont tooth-and-nail, but fell in a four-set affair (24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23) to open 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament play on Thursday (Nov. 15).  The loss ends the Panther campaign at 11-21 overall, following a sixth place 8-8 league finish.

Eastern ended the year with the squad's first trip to the end-of-season league event since 2005, as the Panthers had three players earn four All-OVC post-season honors in the process.

All-OVC honoree Reynae Hutchinson led all players on the court with 15 kills as her nine digs was just one shy of her 26th career duo-duo.  She also finished with five blocks.

OVC 'Freshman of the Year' and All-Newcomer Team selection, Abby Saalfrank collected nine kills, while fellow OVC All-Newcomer Marah Bradbury dished out 43 assists and upped 13 Bruin attacks to tally her seventh double-double of the season.

Seniors Alison Berens and Emily Franklin finished up their fine Panther careers with 12 and six kills from the middle and left-side attack, respectively.  Berens led EIU in hitting via a .286 clip and tied sophomore Kelsey Brooke with an ace apiece.

Junior Stephanie Arnold added nine additional Panther kills and led the net defense with six stuffs, including three solo roofs.

In back row defense, three additional Panthers had double-digit digs, led by the duo of Brooke and freshman libero Stephanie Wallace, as each registered 15 digs.  Defensive and serving specialist Dakota Springer tied Bradbury with 13 digs, meanwhile.

Belmont (16-15) had three players nab kill-dig double-doubles, led by Jen Myer's 14 kill-11 dig performance, while Scarlet Gable and Jocelyn Youngdahl nabbed 10 kills, plus 10 and 11 digs, respectively.  Allison McCoy chipped in 11 additional put-downs and recorded seven blocks, while libero Jamie Lundstrom led all players with 20 digs.

The match between the Panthers and Bruins, just the second all-time meeting after previously batting to a five-set Belmont win in Charleston last week, featured an amazing 41 ties and 19 lead changes, as EIU out-hit the league newcomers .222-to-.213 in the opening frame en route to the 26-24 win.  That set alone had 20 ties as both squads played classic sideout ball.

The next two frames saw the Panthers start strong but falter slightly as Belmont gutted out consecutive wins at 25-18 and 25-19 as the Bruins out-hit EIU in both sets, including holding EIU to a negative attack in the second.

EIU came out strong to open the fourth set before Belmont countered to tie and take the 13-12 lead halfway through.  EIU pushed ahead at 17-15 off a Bradbury kill, forcing a Belmont timeout, as both teams continued hard-fought play with ties at 19, 20 and 22-all.  Consecutive Panther miscues helped Belmont enjoy match point, but not before Franklin fired off her final kill in a Panther uniform to extend the match.  However a key block of Saalfrank would give the Bruins the tough win and move Belmont into the semifinal round where they will play the winner of #2-Southeast Missouri and #7-Jacksonville State.

Berens ends her Panther career with 263 total blocks, which ranks No. 6 in the EIU record books for the OVC-era (1996-present).  Her 308 total blocks, meanwhile, ties for fifth in the same school record books.

Franklin's three-year EIU kills-per-set mark of 2.65 also ranks 10th in the Panther record books OVC-only seasons.

Bradbury has already placed her name in the career record books with 1030 assists on the season to rank No. 8 in OVC-only career seasons.  She joins Saalfrank with 124 sets played this season as the duo have now set a new freshman record.

The Panthers are set to return 12 players from this season's squad, including all three All-OVC honorees.

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