2012 Schedule:  HTML | PDF
2012 Preseason Prospectus (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- A ten-match home slate plus four highly competitive early-season tournaments highlight the 2012 Eastern Illinois volleyball schedule, as unveiled by head coach Kate Price today (June 23).

One key early-tourney weekend features a trip to national power Penn State in mid-September as coach Price, entering her third season as skipper of the Panthers, will bring her EIU squad back to her alma mater.

"Going back to Penn State will be a nice trip," said Price.  "Besides getting to play one of top teams in the country, but also to show the girls where Ryan (assistant coach Ryan Sweitzer) and I came from.

"We also will have the featured Saturday night match against the Nittany Lions so  the girls will have a chance to play in front of thousands of fans, which I think is a pretty cool experience," Price added.

Both Price and Sweitzer earned NCAA championships in their respective PSU women's and men's volleyball squads in 2007 and 2008.  In fact Price was a senior when the Nittany Lion women nabbed  the first of four consecutive NCAA titles.

EIU will open the slate at the five-squad DePaul Invitational, facing Indiana State, Butler, New Orleans and the host Blue Devils in late August.

Following that busy weekend, the Panthers then travel to Rochester, Mich. in late August, early September to take on  Iowa, Toledo and the host Oakland unit.

A tough three-match weekend follows at the Golden Eagle Classic as EIU will take on Wake Forest, Michigan and the host Marquette team.

Lastly, EIU will travel to Happy Valley to battle Duquesne, Portland before facing the host Penn State unit.

The Panther home opening weekend of September 21-22 will feature the first of 16 Ohio Valley Conference matches as  the league moves to east/west division play.  

EIU joins Austin Peay, Murray State, Southeast Missouri, SIU Edwardsville and UT Martin as members of the OVC West Division, with the Panthers playing both home and away contests against those five rivals.

Yet will only play either home or away single match versus the other six East Division opponents - Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, and league newcomer Belmont.

Panthers open home late versus SEMO and UTM, followed by a mid-week match at nearby league foe SIUE.

After traveling to TSU to end the month of September, EIU will head to the windy city to face Illinois-Chicago in non-league action to open October play.

Defending league champion Morehead State and travel partner Eastern Kentucky come to town on Oct. 5-6, before EIU heads to APSU and MUR.

Both MUR and APSU immediately make return trip to Charleston in mid-October before Eastern entertains Midwest rival Saint Louis in a mid-week match.

Panthers end the month on the road at UTM and SEMO before hosting I-70 competitor IUPUI in another mid-week slate.

November gets underway with a crucial road swing at JSU and TTU, followed by regular-season home finales versus SIUE and Belmont, with the Bruins officially joining the OVC in all sports this fall.

The Panther squad, who ended the 2011 campaign at 11-20 overall and 8-12 in league play to tie for eighth, will look to make the OVC Tournament with the regular-season champion set to host to the eight-team event on Nov. 15-17.  EIU last qualified for the end-of-season tourney back in 2005.

"I am very excited about the 2012 season," said Price.  "Plus I'm excited to get the entire squad together come August as I think we will be very young but will also have a lot of potential.  Our preseason schedule is a tough one but I think we need to play good teams seeing we have so much potential this coming season."

Besides perrennial power Penn State, Marquette, Michigan and defending OVC champ Morehead State all saw NCAA action last season.

Returning to pace the 2012 EIU squad will be eight returning letterwinners -- seniors Alison Berens (MH), Emily Franklin (OH) and Kat Gosewisch (DS); juniors Stephanie Arnold (MH), Reynae Hutchinson (OH), and Amy Martin (MB); and sophomores Katie Kirby (OH) and Kelsey Roggemann (MB).

Other returners include junior Kelsey Brooke (OH) and Dakota Springer (OH/DS).

Six incoming newcomer, including five freshmen and a junior transfer -- Marah Bradbury (S), Chelsea Lee (OH/MB), Kayla Nesbitt (OH), Abby Saalfrank (S/OH), Stefanie Shanks (DS), and Stephanie Wallace (L) -- will look to make an immediate impact to the squad this coming fall season.

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