Box Score
Photo Gallery (Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Senior Emily Franklin drilled 17 kills to lead Eastern Illinois volleyball to a four set win over Ohio Valley Conference west division rival SIU Edwardsville (25-17, 25-27, 25-23, 25-21) on Wednesday evening, as the Panthers clinched a spot in the upcoming eight-team league tournament.

Eastern will make their first appearance in the end-of-season event, which decides who will represent the OVC in NCAA Regional play, since 2005 when the Panthers ironically hosted the three-day tourney.

The Panthers have also won eight of their last ten OVC contests to improve to 8-7 in league action and have solidified sixth place in the conference standings, while also improving their overall mark to 11-19.

Franklin earned a team-high 43 attacks to register a .233 clip as she set a season-high kill tally, while adding a pair of blocks and three digs.  It marks her first double-digit kill mark since mid-September and her fourth of the season.

Junior Stephanie Arnold chipped in 10 kills via the middle attack and had just two miscues to sport a team-high .400 clip.  She also finished with six block assists.

A trio of additional Panthers -- freshman Abby Saalfrank, junior Reynae Hutchinson and senior Alison Berens -- each collected nine kills, as Saalfrank set a new personal block total with seven roofs, while Berens added four stuffs of her own.

Marah Bradbury, the reigning OVC 'Setter of the Week', dished out 46 assists and upped 11 SIUE attacks to garner her sixth career assist-dig duo-duo performance in a Panther uniform.

In back court defense, four additional Panthers nabbed double-digit dig numbers, led by freshman libero Stephanie Wallace's 15 ups, with sophomore Kelsey Brooke tying Hutchinson with 13, and sophomore Dakota Springer adding 12.

Behind the service line, Berens and Wallace both fired off a pair of aces each.

Meeting for the seventh time, the match between the two instate league rivals featured 21 ties and five lead changes, as the Panthers pulled to within 3-4 in the all-time series history with the Cougars.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 7-1 lead to begin the match, eventually cruising to an 18-8 first set advantage en route to the 25-17 victory, leading the entire way.

But the visitors countered with their own early second frame run to eventually enjoy a 12-6 advantage.  However, the home Panther squad would slowly claw back to make things interesting, tying the set at 17-all to force a Cougar timeout.  Following another tie at 20-all, SIUE would pull ahead 24-21 but squander consecutive set-points as the Panthers tied it at 24-all and again at 25-all.  Yet a Cougar kill and EIU miscue would allow SIUE to tie the match at a set a piece via the 27-25 win.

A very tight set three followed, which featured nine ties and four lead changes, as neither squad enjoyed more than a two-point lead through the halfway point of the set.  Consecutive SIUE miscues would force the Cougars to burn a timeout as EIU lead 19-17, with the Panthers eventually serving for set-point up 24-19.  However, the visiting squad once again managed to make the home crowd sweat a bit as consecutive points moved the Cougars to within 24-23 of EIU, but a Franklin put-down would give Eastern the 2-1 match advantage off the exciting 25-23 win.

In set four, both squads played classic sideout volleyball, with the frame going back-and-forth until EIU went on a 4-0 run to break out of a 15-all tie and lead 19-15.  Following a SIUE break in the action, both squads continued sideout ball yet the home team didn't allow the Cougars to get any close than two points as the Panthers finished strong for the 25-21 deciding win.

SIUE had zero players earn double-digit kills, as Emma Anderson and Kristen Torre both finished with eight put-a-ways to pace the Cougar offense.  Leslie Lindsey and Kelsey Augustine added seven and six kills, respectively, with Augustine leading the net defense with six blocks, while libero Chelsea Colclasure led all players on the court with 26 digs.  Sammi Minton and Kaitlyn O'Reilly shared setting duties behind respective 21 and 16 helpers.

Team-wise, EIU led SIUE in every stat categories, including for kills (56-41), attack (.145-to-.066), assists (55-to-40), aces (six-to-three), digs (72-to-70), blocks (14.0-to-9.5), and points (76.0-to-53.5).  Neither team hit well as each squad finished with 31 attack errors, while EIU also led SIUE in service miscues via an 11-to-7 advantage.

The Panthers will finish up the 2012 regular-season this coming Friday (Nov. 9), as Eastern will host OVC newcomer Belmont at 5:30 p.m. in Lantz Arena.  Prior to the first serve, EIU will honor three seniors -- Alison Berens, Emily Franklin and Kat Gosewisch -- for their contributions to the Panther volleyball program.

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