Box Score

CHICAGO -- Eastern Illinois volleyball ended competition at the two-day DePaul Invitational late Saturday afternoon by scratching past long-time rival Indiana State in a five-set thriller (25-17, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 15-8), capturing second place at the season-opening event.

The win moves the Panthers to 2-1 on the early season, and helped Eastern snap a recent three-match losing streak to the Sycamores (1-2) and extend the all-time Division I series lead over the I-70 rivals to 19-10.

Four different EIU players hit in double-digits with seniors Alison Berens and Emily Franklin tying freshman Abby Saalfrank with 13 put-a-ways apiece.  Junior Reynae Hutchinson added 10 kills of her own.

Both Hutchinson and Saalfrank also secured their first double-double of the season behind the addition of 10 digs and 19 assists, respectively. Newcomer Marah Bradbury also registered a duo-duo off 24 assists and 12 digs.

Defensively, both Saalfrank and Hutchinson blocked five ISU attacks as the Panthers roofed the Sycamores 11-to-seven in total net defense.

Freshman libero Stephanie Wallace, who ended her fine opening season play by representing the Panthers on the All-Tournament squad, finished with 11 digs in the match and 47 total for the weekend.

The team stat of the game was the serve as EIU had 12 aces to just five for the Sycamores, with Bradbury leading all players with a six unreturnable serves.  Yet 14 service miscues would also hinder the Panther game plan.

ISU was led by the duo of Shea Doran and Molly Murphy off their respective 17 and 14 kills, with Doran also tallying 11 digs.  On defense, Kyla Thomas had four blocks and libero Ashlen Buck upped 16 attacks.

Panthers jumped out to an early 5-2 lead to open the match, with the lone ISU points coming via EIU serving miscues.  A deeply placed ace by Bradbury, followed by a right-side kill from Saalfrank, extended the Panther lead to 14-8, forcing ISU to burn a timeout.  A put-down through the block by Franklin helped Eastern to maintain the five-point cushion and after an ISU sideout, EIU would rattle off four straight to sudden lead, 22-15.  A crushing cross-court kill from Franlin gave Eastern their first set point, while the duo block from Arnold and Saalfrank handed the Panthers a 25-17 first set win.  EIU out-hit ISU by a commanding .306 to .094 clip with Berens, Hutchinson and Franklin all nailing four kills each.

After Eastern took another quick lead to open set two, ISU countered to knot the score at 5-all, but the Panthers scored three straight to go up 8-5.  EIU held onto a four-point lead but ISU responded to tie it at 13-all, but Franklin's shot off the block, followed by an ISU miscue and Panther ace, would help Eastern retake the lead at 16-13.  Continued tough EIU serves helped the Panthers lead at 23-17, eventually taking the 2-0 match lead following an off-speed shot by Hutchinson for the 25-19 win.  EIU hit .367 in the frame, while ISU improved considerably behind a .233 clip.

After both squads opened set three action tied 6-all, ISU would go on a run to lead 10-8, with an off-speed kill from Saalfrank ending the run.  Yet ISU kept up the pressure to force EIU head coach Kate Price to use a timeout down 14-11.  Sycamores eventually upped the lead to 22-16 before a dump kill by Bradbury in the heart of the ISU defense ended the scoring drought.  Yet the ISU momentum would continue as the Sycamores countered with a 25-20 third set win to pull to within 2-1 of the Panthers in the match.  ISU out-hit Eastern, .500 to .379 in the frame.

An EIU 3-0 lead quickly turned to a 8-4 ISU advantage to open the fourth stanza, forcing an early Panther timeout.  The break would help as EIU pulled to within 9-8 off nice serves by redshirt sophomore Kelsey Brooke and key blocking.  With ISU holding a two-to-three point cushion, both squads continued side-out play with the Sycamores eventually pushing ahead 21-16, forcing an EIU timeout.  That's when Eastern went on a major 7-1 run.  First a soft shot by Hutchinson over the ISU block was followed by a Bradford ace, after a Berens/Saalfrank block Berens would drill consecutive kills to suddenly give the Panthers a 23-22 lead, forcing an ISU break in the action.  But ISU countered the streak with two blocks before earning the hard-fought 25-23 win to force a fifth and decisive set.  Neither team hit well in that set, as ISU led .143 to .129.

EIU came up on all cylinders in the fifth as tough serving by Bradford forced ISU off-system as Eastern jumped to a 5-0 lead.  A shot through the ISU block by Saalfrank and an ISU miscommunication on a serve by Brooke would force the Sycamores to use call timeout as the Panthers suddenly led, 11-5.  A mini ISU run would end thanks to a dump kill by Saalfrank, as EIU would take the match off the 15-8 win thanks to a Sycamore error and Berens over-pass kill.

EIU will next compete at next weekend's Oakland Invitational in Rochester, Mich. as the Panthers are set to face Iowa, Toledo and the host Grizzly squad.

DePaul Invitational Finish:
1. Butler ... 2-1
2. Eastern Illinois ... 2-1
3. DePaul ... 1-2
4. Indiana State ... 1-2

DePaul Invitational All-Tournament Team:
Shea Doran, ISU
Stephanie Wallace, EIU
Natalie Rizzo, DePaul
Erica Stahl, Butler
Belle Obert, Butler
Morgan Peterson, Butler ... MVP

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