Pre-Weekend Notes (PDF)
DePaul Invitational Tournament Central (Live Stats, Web Video, Results, etc.)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The 2012 edition of Eastern Illinois volleyball is set to begin this weekend as the Panthers travel to the windy city for a two-day, four-team invitational being hosted by DePaul.

EIU will open against the host Blue Demons at 7 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 24), before battling nearby I-70 foes Butler and Indiana State at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively, on Saturday.

All action will take place at DePaul's McGrath-Phillips Arena.

COMPLETE INVITE SCHEDULE
... all times central

Friday, August 24 ...
... Butler vs. Indiana State ... 4:30 p.m.
... EIU at DePaul ... 7 p.m.

Saturday, August 25 ...
... Butler vs. EIU ... 11:30 a.m.
... Indiana State at DePaul ... 2 p.m.
... Indiana State vs. EIU ... 4:30 p.m.
... Butler at DePaul ... 7 p.m.

Panther fans can follow all the action via the DePaul website at www.DePaulBlueDemons.com.  Coverage will include free live stats of all six matches, as well as video streaming (for a charge) of each match featuring the host DePaul squad.

Click on the DePaul Invitational Tournament Central link above for further details.

DI HISTORY IN SEASON OPENERS
Panthers own a 30-year NCAA Division I mark of 14-16 in season-openers, including winning seven of the last ten.

This year marks the first time that EIU has opened the campaign versus DePaul.

All-Time EIU Season-Openers ...
1982 ... Bradley ... L, 1-2
1983 ... Wisconsin ... L, 1-3
1984 ... at Wisconsin ... W, 3-0
1985 ... vs. LSU ... W, 3-0
1986 ... vs. Loyola (Chicago) ... L, 2-3
1987 ... vs. Auburn ... L, 2-3
1988 ... at Wisconsin ... L, 1-3
1989 ... Northern Illinois ... W, 3-1
1990 ... at Arkansas State ... L, 0-3
1991 ... at Akron ... L, 1-3
1992 ... at Indiana State ... W, 3-1
1993 ... vs. Northern Iowa ... L, 0-3
1994 ... vs. Texas ... L, 0-3
1995 ... vs. Southern Miss ... L, 1-3
1996 ... vs. Ohio ... L, 2-3
1997 ... vs. UW-Green Bay ... W, 3-0
1998 ... IUPUI .. W, 3-2
1999 ... vs. Fordham ... W, 3-0
2000 ... vs. Northern Illinois ... L, 1-3
2001 ... Wright State ... L, 1-3
2002 ... Toledo ... L, 1-3
2003 ... Western Illinois ... W, 3-1
2004 ... vs. Boston College ... W, 3-1
2005 ... Dayton ... L, 0-3
2006 ... at Indiana State ... W, 3-2
2007 ... vs. McNeese State ... W, 3-0
2008 ... at N.C. Central ... W, 3-0
2009 ... vs. Kent State ... W, 3-1
2010 ... vs. Bryant ... W, 3-1
2011 ... vs. Miami (Ohio) ... L, 1-3

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Eastern returns eight letterwinners from last season's 11-20 (8-12 OVC) squad, which includes five starters.

Key returning starters from last fall feature Stephanie Arnold and Alison Berens in the middle attack, while Emily Franklin and Reynae Hutchinson will constitute a crucial 1-2 punch to the Panther outside offense.  Meanwhile, serving/defensive specialist Kat Gosewisch is also back for her senior year.

A trio of true freshmen are expected to make an immediate impact with the duo of Marah Bradbury and Abby Saalfrank set to run the offense and libero Stephanie Wallace tabbed to pick up the back court defense.

Other EIU reserves include blockers Amy Martin and Kelsey Roggemann and additional defensive specialist Dakota Springer.

PRESEASON ALL-OVC HONOREES
Seniors Alison Berens and Emily Franklin each earned a spot on the Preseason All-OVC team as each picked up their first career preseason kudos as middle and outside hitter, respectively.

Berens led the squad in net defense last fall with 91 totals blocks for a 0.86 blocks-per-set mark, while ranking third in total kills with 231 (2.18 kps) behind a team-best .241 attack.

Franklin, who hails from Oregon, Wis., finished as the team leader in kills with 386 (3.36 kps) last fall, while also owning the squad's top service game with 31 total aces (0.27 aps).  She also finished with the third best dig mark behind 242 total digs (2.10 dps).  The Stephen F. Austin transfer scored 15 or more points in a team-high 13 contests while owning a squad-best yearly 442.0 point tally.  Franklin was also named to both the Louisville Classic and Indiana Classic all-tourney squads as a junior in 2012.

SCOUTING DEPAUL
The host Blue Demons went just 7-22 overall in 2011, placing 14th at 3-11 in the Big East Conference.

Eight letterwinners and four starters are slated to return for DePaul, including Amy Lanski who led her squad with 272 kills as a freshman last fall.

Junior Natalie Rizzo is a threat at the net with a team-best 88 blocks in 2011, while senior libero Kelsey Bowler finished with 431 digs.

The Panthers lead the all-time NCAA DI series off an 18-5 advantage, but have not met since 2006.

SCOUTING BUTLER
Last year, the Bulldogs went 16-14 overall and captured third place during their last season in the Horizon League at 11-5.

Out of ten returning letterwinners, four are previous starters for Butler, with their strength coming from the middle as the Bulldogs are led by league honoree Maggie Harbison, who was among the conference leaders in blocks and aces last year.

While on the outside, senior Rachel Barber and sophomores Kelly Kyle and Belle Obert will be the focus as all three players saw extensive action last season.

Sophomores Brooke Ruffolo and Jadyn Yarling return in the defensive back court.

Eastern is 6-11 all-time against the Indy rivals during the NCAA DI years, having dropped seven of the last eight matchups.

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
Longtime rival Indiana State finished 14-17 overall and in sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference at 6-12 last season.

One of those 2011 victories included an early-season three-set win over the Panthers as EIU competed at the ISU Classic last August.

Out of seven letterwinners only two starters are set to return for the Sycamores, including junior Morgan Dall, who led ISU in kills.

Backup setter Loni Mackinson will most likely run the Sycamores offense.

Despite holding a sizeable 18-10 lead in the all-time DI series history, the Sycamores have actually won the last three meetings, with the last Panther win coming back in 2007 at home. 

This weekend's contest will mark just the third time that EIU and ISU have met on a neutral floor, with the series tied at a match apiece.

PANTHERS PICKED NINTH
As voted on by the league head coaches and sports information directors, the Panthers have been tabbed to tie for ninth place in the now 12-squad league.

Refer to the next page for the complete preseason order of finish.

Morehead State has once again been tabbed as the team to beat for the third consecutive season, as the defending regular-season and tourney champion Eagles received 22 of 24 possible first place votes.
For the first time in league history, the OVC will have 12 squads battling for conference contention, requiring an East/West Division to be been set-up this year, with EIU joining Austin Peay, Murray State, SIU Edwardsville, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin in the West, as the Panthers will face those five squads twice over the course of the year, both at home and on the road.

Meanwhile, the teams set to compete in the East Division include Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech, with EIU slated to play those six just once on the year, either on the road or at home.

LOOKING AHEAD
After opening the 2012 campaign in the windy city EIU will continue early-season tourney play at the four-squad Oakland Invitational next weekend.

The Panthers will face the first of three Big Ten foes this season -- Iowa -- before battling the host Oakland and Toledo units.

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