Box Score

MARQUETTE, Wis. -- Eastern Illinois volleyball finished Friday action at the Marquette Classic by hitting past ACC foe Wake Forest for a four set win (25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20), as the Panthers improve to 3-5 overall.

Three Panthers finished with double-digit kill figures, led by junior Reynae Hutchinson's 19th career double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore Kelsey Roggemann and freshman Abby Saalfrank chipped in 12 kills apiece.

Saalfrank upped her season kill-assist duo-duo mark to four with team-high 27 assists, and led all players on the court with a .409 attack.  Fellow freshman Marah Bradbury dished out 22 assists of her own as EIU out-hit the Demon Deacons, .286 to .271.

Defensively, both squads had seven blocks, with junior Stephanie Arnold leading the net defense behind five stuffs.  In the back court, sophomore Kelsey Brooke led all players with 14 ups, while freshman libero Stephanie Wallace tallied 11 digs.

Wake Forest (3-3) was led by four players with double-digit kills, as Anna Carley had 15 and Andrea Beck and Kylie Hargreaves tied with 13 each. 

Meeting for the first time in program history, the two squads battled thru just nine ties and three lead changes as the Panthers controlled much of the match with strong serving and clutch defensive pick-ups.  Wallace and Bradbury each fired off three aces as EIU out-hit Wake Forest behind the service line, eight to three.

In other team stats, EIU led in kills (58-to-56), assists (56-to-49) and points (73.0-to-66.0), while the Deacons had one more dig than the Panthers via a 51-to-50 advantage.

A hot Panther start forced WF to use an early timeout as EIU led, 4-1.  The Demon Deacons countered to pull to within 5-4, but EIU would move ahead, 12-8, following an ace by Stephanie Wallace.  WF would burn their final timeout as consecutive points upped Panther lead to 19-15 following a kill by Emily Franklin and a Deacon miscue.  Down 22-19, WF would go on run to pull to within 22-21 of EIU, forcing a Panther break in the action, as EIU then took the set, 25-23, thanks to a late 3-1 run.  Eastern never trailed the set and out-hit the Deacons, .321 to .390.

An early  1-0 WF lead quickly turned to a 5-2 Panther advantage thanks to an EIU 4-0 run as Eastern took advantage of off-system play by WF to extend their lead to 14-9.  Yet the ACC foe would go on a 6-1 run to knot the score at 15-all, requiring an Eastern break.  After kills from Alison Berens and Abby Saalfrank moved EIU ahead 17-15, WF would go on 6-1 run to force another EIU timeout as Panthers trailed 21-18. A quick set to Kelsey Roggemann and a kill off the slide would pull EIU to within 22-20, but Panther miscues would help WF hold on for the 25-21 victory to even the match at a set apiece. 

Like the previous two sets, EIU jumped to quick 9-4 lead as tough serves led to easy Panther kills as WF struggled to get on-system and suddenly trailed Eastern, 11-4.  WF countered with a 3-0 run to pull to within 11-7, but nice defensive ups and timely Panther hitting helped EIU maintain an 18-12 advantage to force another Deacon break in the action.  Excellent on-system Panther play pushed EIU to set-point, and eventually the win, 25-20, as Reynae Hutchinson's kill silenced a late WF run.  EIU out-hit WF, .244 to .171 with Abby Saalfrank hitting a blistering .714 behind five kills and zero errors in that set.

The fourth set began with side-out play by both team before EIU went on 4-1 run to lead 10-7.  A key ace by Stephanie Wallace, followed by tandem block by Hutchinson/ Berens and a crushing kill by Hutchinson would move Eastern ahead, 17-12.  With EIU playing scrappy defense and firing on all cylinders, Wake Forest would burn a timeout down 19-13 following consecutive right-side kills by Abby Saalfrank.  A 4-2 run by WF would pull the Deacons to within 21-17 of EIU to require a Panther timeout.  But another Saalfrank kill, a quick Roggemann attack and a Wallace ace would give EIU the win, 25-20.

Eastern returns to the court at noon on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers take on #23-Michigan to end Marquette Classic play this weekend.

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