Pre-Week Notes (PDF)

SIUE at EIU ... Live Stats | Live Video | Match Program (PDF)
BEL at EIU ... Live Stats | Live Video | Match Program (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois volleyball will finish up the 2012 regular-season at home this week, hosting a pair of Ohio Valley Conference rivals -- SIU Edwardsville and Belmont -- on Wednesday (Nov. 7) and Friday (Nov. 9) at 7 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively.

Panthers have currently won seven of their last nine league matchups, including three consecutive road contests, to own an even 7-7 mark in conference action, while improving to 10-19 overall. 

The Cougars of SIUE come to town at 9-16 overall and 5-9 in the OVC, while the league newcomer Belmont squad sit at 13-15 and 9-5, respectively, prior to a Tuesday match at Tennessee State.

THIS COMING WEEK'S SCHEDULE
... all times central

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7
• SIUE at EIU ... 7 p.m. ... OVC Digital Network
• EKU at MOR ... 7 p.m.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9
• BEL at EIU ... 5:30 p.m. ... OVC Digital Network

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10
• TTU at SIUE ... 1 p.m. ... OVC Digital Network
• MOR at APSU ... 2 p.m.
• EKU at MUR ... 2 p.m.
• JSU at UTM ... 2 p.m.
• SEMO at TTU ... 2 p.m.  ... OVC Digital Network

Panther fans can follow the action via live stats and live webcasts via the EIU website at www.EIUpanthers.com.

QUICK SET ON THE PANTHERS
• After earning her fourth consecutive kill-dig double-double of the year, and 25th all-time, junior Reynae Hutchinson paces the Panther offense with 301 kills (2.74 kps) behind a .149 attack and 344.5 point tally.  For the second consecutive season, the nearby Mattoon native will collect 300+ kills in a season.  The outside hitter recently nailed 20 kills and added 10 digs as EIU dispatched TTU in a four-set four match last Saturday.

• Freshman Abby Saalfrank follows with 284 kills (2.56 kps) of her own, as the right-side hitter is hitting .245 on the year and has already secured an impressive five triple-doubles this season.

• Alison Berens has chipped in 253 kills (2.28  kps) via the middle attack.  She leads EIU in total points with 346.5 points with the addition of a team-best 99 total blocks (20 solo, 79 assisted).The senior also owns the top Panther serve with 34 aces, while her 23 unreturnable serves in league-only action continues to lead the entire OVC.

• Fresh off her second career OVC 'Setter of the Week' honor this week, freshman setter Marah Bradbury has 882 assists (8.02 aps) to her credit, which included dishing out a new personal best 58 assists last week versus IUPUI.  Her 30 aces and .265 attack mark currently rank second on the Panther squad.

• Defensively, sophomore Kelsey Brooke and freshman Stephanie Wallace are one-and-two in digs with 357 (3.22 dps) and 320 (3.08 dps) ups, respectively.  The duo have been sharing starting libero duties as of late, with Wallace most recently taking over that important defensive spot in the back court.

• Junior Stephanie Arnold leads EIU in hitting with a .293 attack clip, while adding 151 kills and ranking second in net defense with 89 total roofs, including 12 solo stuffs and 77 assisted blocks.  She registered a new career high kill and attack tally this past weekend with 14 put-a-ways off a .433 attack in EIU's crucial win at JSU.

SCOUTING SIU EDWARDSVILLE
• EIU's lone instate OVC rival, SIU Edwardsville, will come to town at 9-16 overall and 5-9 in league action.  Last Sep. 25, the Cougars swept EIU in Edwardsville, but have gone just 3-8 overall since.  SIUE owns a 1-6 road mark in OVC play, which included a four-set loss at TTU last weekend, as the Golden Eagles pick up their lone league win of the season.

• Junior Kelsey Augustine and sophomore Emma Anderson lead SIUE with 244 (2.62 kps) and 235 (2.58 kps) kills, respectively, as Augustine has also made her presence known at the net with a team-best 99 blocks, including 16 solo and 83 assisted stuffs.

• Newcomer Kristen Torre owns the top Cougar attack off a .264 clip and 184 kills, with Augustine hiting .252 on the season.

• Senior Sammi Minton sports 928 assists (9.98 aps) yet SIUE is just hitting .165 for the year.

• Sophomore Chelsea Colclasure leads the Cougar back court with 493 digs (5.30 dps), while also owning the squad's top serve via 26 aces, followed closely by senior Brooke Smith's 20 unreturnable serves.

• Wednesday's contest will be just the seventh all-time between EIU and SIUE, with the Cougars currently holding a slight 4-2 advantage in the all-time series.  Last year, both squads picked up home victories, while SIUE currently enjoys a two-match winning streak after winning the first meeting over EIU back in late September.

SCOUTING BELMONT
• Prior to traveling to Tennessee State on Tuesday evening, the Bruins of Belmont own a 13-15 overall record and 9-5 mark in their first season in the OVC.  The addition of Belmont into the league this season upped the squad tally to 12, which necessitated the east-west division split.

• Jen Myer is the go-to player on the Belmont squad with a team-best 247 kills (2.81), while she is hitting .169 for the year and ranks second with 22 aces.

• Scarlet Gable and Alex Martin follow with respective 220 and 215 kill totals, with Martin owning the top block numbers via 75 total stuffs, including 12 solo roofs.

• Allison McCoy's .329 attack clip currently paces the Bruins behind her 135 kills.

• Hannah Miranda paces the offense with 962 (10.34 aps) assists, and ties Jamie Lundstrom with a team-high 24 aces.

• Lundstrom has 501 (5.01 dps) digs to her credit this season to lead her squad in the back row defense.

• Friday's matchup in Charleston will mark the first-ever meeting between EIU and BEL on the volleyball court.

PANTHERS IN OVC TOP FIVE
• Team-wise, EIU currently ranks third in the OVC for overall matches in assists (12.05), while also tabbed fourth in hitting % (.198), kills (12.75) and blocks (1.93), and fifth for aces (1.21).

• For league-only contests, the Panthers are ranked fourth for hitting % (.218), kills (13.44), blocks (2.12), and aces (1.22), while fifth for assists (12.75).

• Individually, senior Alison Berens leads the entire conference for aces in OVC-only action thanks to a 0.42 assists-per-set mark.

• Junior Stephanie Arnold also owns a pair of Top 5 marks in the OVC, including a Top 3 rank for hitting % (.299) in league-only action and a 4th place tally for OVC-only blocks (1.09 bps).

OVC 'SETTER OF THE WEEK' AGAIN
•  Freshman Marah Bradbury nabbed her second career adidas® OVC 'Setter of the Week' honor, as announced by the league office on Monday, following her steller play for the Panthers last week.

• The Decatur, Ind., native dished out 50+ assists in all three EIU matches last week, including a career high of 58 against IUPUI at home.  In that same Jaguar match, Bradbury also earned her fifth assist-dig double-double with the addition of a new career-high 12 digs.

• She helped Eastern hit .260 as a team over the course of three matches last week, which included a pair of road OVC wins at Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech.  EIU hit .277 in the win over the Gamecocks to mark the first time that the Panthers have won consecutive road matches over JSU.

EIU ONE OF EIGHT OVC TEAMS
• With the addition of Belmont to the OVC this season, membership jumped to 12 squads which will increase the season-ending league championship to eight teams this fall, instead of the usual six squads.

• Participants will be determined by OVC-only records from top-to-bottom of the standings, regardless of east or west division ranks.  So prior to this week's action, EIU is currently all alone in sixth place at 7-7 in league play.
• EIU last participated in the end-of-season OVC Tournament back in 2005, when the Panthers hosted the six-squad event as the No. 4 seed. 

• EIU earned the right to host the event as the Panthers won a coin flip versus co-first place (at the time) Tennessee Sate.  With the championship match to be televised on ESPNU that year, the tourney host needed to be determined before the end of the regular-season, which allowed EIU the chance of entertaining the six squads competing.  Unfortunately, Eastern dropped their first round contest to SEMO that year, via a five-set heartbreaker.

THREE SENIORS TO BE HONORED
• Prior to the Friday home finale versus Belmont, the Panthers are set to honor a trio of seniors -- Alison Berens, Emily Franklin and Kat Gosewisch -- for their contributions to EIU volleyball.

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