PRE-MATCH NOTES (PDF)
CHARLESTON, Ill. --Â After having just hosted Murray State and Austin Peay this past week, Eastern Illinois volleyball is set for a pair of rematches versus both the Racers and Lady Govs during an Ohio Valley Conference road swing this weekend.
EIU downed Murray State (12-10/2-6) in a four-set affair last Saturday, while the Panthers clawed past Austin Peay (9-15/6-2) in a five-set affair after trailing two-sets to none, yet Eastern picked up the win to remain undefeated at home and enjoy a 11-10 overall and 5-3 mark on the year.
PANTHER QUICK SETS
• EIU is one of just two OVC squads that sport a perfect home mark. The Panthers are 4-0 thus far this season, while this coming's Saturday's opponent, APSU, are also 4-0 at home.
• Eastern's exciting five-set comeback win over the Lady Govs marks the 15th time that a Panther volleyball unit has been able to claw back from an 0-2 deficit during the current NCAA DI years (1982-present).
• EIU continues to hold the top conference rank for overall attack (.221), as well as owning the best assist (12.70) and kill (13.70) marks-per-set. While in OVC-only action, the Panthers also rank as the best squad in assists (13.76) and kills (14.36) per-set.
• In individual OVC Top 5 ranks, four Panthers sit atop the league, led by sophomore Marah Bradbury's top assists-per-set marks of 10.84/11.90 for the season/OVC. Senior Stephanie Arnold owns top league marks for hitting (3rd) and blocks (2nd), while her classmate, Reynae Hutchinson, also sits in the OVC Top 5 for kills and points. In OVC-only action, sophomore Chelsea Lee has a 4th place mark in kills.
• Three different Panthers have nabbed weekly OVC honors this season, with senior Reynae Hutchinson earning her first career 'Offensive Player of ther Week' honor this past Monday.Meanwhile, sophomore Marah Bradbury, earned three consecutive 'Setter of the Week' honors recently, and fifth all-time, as classmate Chelsea Lee also picked up her first-ever 'Offensive Player of the Week' honor back in early September.
• Team-wise, the Panthers currently have the advantage over their competition in nearly every statistical category, as EIU leads in kills, attack, assists, digs, and points (1209.5-1174.5). Eastern only trails the opposition in aces and blocks.
EIU STARTERS & INFO BREAKDOWN
... tentative and subject to change
OH - REYNAE HUTCHINSON
• A two-time Preseason All-OVC honoree, senior Reynae Hutchinson finally earned her first career league 'Player of the Week' honor, as she led all conference players in points last weekend. She leads EIU in kills in OVC-only action with 130 put-aways, while a close second with 242 total for the year. She's hitting .174 on the season and has already added her name to the EIU career 1,000-Kill list with 1,143 thus far, which ranks No. 8 all-time.
• She currently ranks in the OVC Top 5 for kills and points including a second place mark in both for league-only action.
• Last weekend she nabbed consecutive kill-dig double-doubles versus APSU and MUR to now sport 36 career duo-duo performances.
• She needs just 96 digs to also place her name onto the EIU 1,000 Dig unit, which would make her just the 12th all-time Panther volleyball player to earn a spot on both the 1,000 Kill & Dig Clubs. This year she upped 22 SEMO attacks to set a new personal dig high, while her 22 kills in EIU's win over APSU last week set a season high.
OH/MB - CHELSEA LEE
• As she has for most of the season, Lee continues to pace all Panthers offensively with 254 kills (3.30 kps), behind a .268 attack. She also has 40 total blocks and owns a team-high 278.5 point tally.
• Individually, Lee currently ranks in the OVC Top 5 for kills and points for the entire season.
• Lee connected on 44 kills and registered a .379 attack to earn her first career OVC 'Offensive Player of the Week' honor as she helped pace EIU to runner-up team honors at the early-season Drake Invitational last month.
OPPOSITE - LEXI BROWN
• Freshman Lexi Brown has earned consecutive starts as she has 52 kills on the season off a .178 attack. She has nine blocks and 58.0 total points.
• She set a personal-high kill tally with 10 put-downs in EIU's comeback win over APSU, while her 11.0 point total also set a new season best mark for the newcomer.
• She has played 33 matches as a true freshman.
MH - STEPHANIE ARNOLD
• Continuing a fine senior campaign, Stephanie Arnold paces the Panther attack off a high of .345, behind 199 kills (2.43 kps) and a team-best 88 blocks (1.07 bps).Â
• Her season attack continues to be one of the best in the OVC, as she currently ranks third overall, while holding onto a 2nd place tally for total blocks.
• She enjoyed an impressive hitting night when EIU downed TSU at home in four-sets, as she connected for a career-best .789 attack (15-kills behind 19-attacks with zero errors). That mark ranks as the sixth best Panther attack in school-history, and sits as the third best tally during the current OVC-era.
• She roofed a season-best 10 Racer attacks in EIU's four-set win over Murray State last weekend, coming just one shy of tying her previous personal best mark.
S - MARAH BRADBURY
• Having recently won OVC 'Setter of the Week' honors over three consecutive weeks, sophomore Marah Bradbury continues to pace the league in assists for both the season (10.84 aps) and in OVC-only matches (11.90).
• She set a new career-high mark this fall with 65 assists in EIU's tough five-set road loss at SEMO to open league play in October.
• Off her leadership, EIU continues to hold the top hitting % mark, as well as leading the league in team assists and total kills.
• Last weekend, she nabbed consecutive assist-dig double-doubles to improve her career performance mark to 15 all-time.
MB - AMY MARTIN
• Senior Amy Martin made an immediate impact off the bench in EIU's five-set comeback over APSU last weekend, as eventually drilled the match winner via her patiented slide attack. Her .455 in the contest helped to set a season high for the middle blocker.
• She then finished with 12 kills in Eastern's four-set win over Murray State, setting a personal high in the process off the match start.
L - STEPHANIE WALLACE
• Sophomore libero Stephanie Wallace owns the top EIU dig mark with 284 total (3.79 dps), which ranks in the OVC Top 10.
• The Trenton, Ill. native tied her career-high dig tally in EIU's tough five-set, OVC loss at SEMO to begin league play late last month, then proceeded to tie that dig number yet again in the Panthers' five-set nailbiter at MOR last weekend.
• In her short career, Wallace has already secured 15+ digs in 20 matches, including ten such performances this year.
QUICK SET ON WEEKEND ACTION
• When comparing EIU, MUR and APSU, the Panthers own the top stat marks in everything but digs.
• APSU trails EIU and MUR in every stat category, while tying the Panthers in aces. The Racers, meanwhile, sport team best for digs.
• Since both APSU and MUR are both fellow members of the OVC West Division, the Panthers face each other at home and away, which explains the immediate rematches between the squads this weekend. All OVC squads are in the mid-way point of the season in league action with each team playing 16 conference contests.
LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK
• After traveling to Murray State and Austin Peay this weekend, the Panthers return home for a season-long four-match homestand.
• EIU entertains UT Martin and Southeast Missouri in rematches on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 1-2, before hosting East Division foes JSU and TTU the following weekend, to finish up the regular-season home portion of the 2013 slate.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
