Box Score

ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Eastern Illinois volleyball opened Oakland Invitational action on Friday afternoon, losing a tough four set match to Iowa (32-30, 25-13, 24-26, 25-20) to move to an even 2-2 on the early season.

Junior outside hitter Reynae Hutchinson led the Panther attack with 13 kills, while freshman setter/right side Abby Saalfrank notched a triple-double behind 12 kills, 14 assists and 14 digs.

Saalfrank's fine play marks the first time that a Panther volleyball player has notched that particular triple-duo honor since Meleah Cutler (1996-99) finished with 15 kills, 11 assists and 22 digs against SEMO back on Oct. 22, 1998.

Fellow newcomer Marah Bradbury dished out an additional 25 assists, plus  led all players with three aces and hit .667 with two kills and zero miscues.

Defensively, freshman libero Stephanie Wallace upped 18 Iowa attacks, while sophomore Kelsey Brooke set a new personal best mark with 11 digs of her own.

Junior Stephanie Arnold led the EIU net defense with three assisted blocks.

Iowa (4-1) was led by four players hitting in double-digits kills, including 12 from both Erin Radke and Chante' Thompson, while Rachael Bedell and Alex Lovell chipped in 11 apiece.  Thompson ended up hitting .529 for the match as both Radke and Lovell tallied an attack clip over .400.

For the match, Iowa led EIU in total kills (58 to 53), assists (56 to 51), aces (eight to six), blocks (eight to five), and points (74.0 to 64.0).  The Panthers did out-pace the Hawkeyes in digs off a slight 66-to-65 mark.

The match started close with the first set going the extra mile as the Panthers fell by a close 32-30 score, despite having multiple set-point opportunities.  The set featured an amazing 18 ties and 11 lead changes.

EIU then got off to a slow start in the second frame, and hit -.040 in the process as Iowa jumped ahead Iowa to earn the quick 25-13 win.

Eastern countered with some clutch play in the third set, which included some key kills by freshman Kayla Nesbitt, who came off the bench to see her first collegiate play as a Panther.  The Panthers would pull to within 2-1 of Iowa with the close 26-24 victory, hitting a match-high .233.

Another back-and-forth affair occured in the final set, until the Hawkeyes eventually pulled away for the 25-20 win thanks to a .385-to-.179 attack advantage.

With the win, Iowa extends their all-time series advantage over the Panthers to 3-1, though it was the first meeting between the two squads in nearly 30 years.

Eastern will finish up action at the two-day Oakland Invite on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers are set to face the host Grizzlies and battle Toledo at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.

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