| EASTERN ILLINOIS hosts MURRAY STATE & BELMONT |
| Week Details | vs. MUR | 7 p.m. | Fri., Oct. 10, 2014 | Lantz Arena | Charleston, Ill. |
| vs. APSU | 2 p.m. | Sat., Oct. 11, 2014 | Lantz Arena | Charleston, Ill. |
| Match Coverage | Twitter | Facebook | Live Stats | Live Video |
| EIU Panther info | Website | 7-10 Overall | 1-3 OVC |
| MUR info | Website | 12-4 Overall | 3-1 OVC | Match Program (PDF) |
| APSU info | Website | 10-10 Overall | 4-0 OVC | Match Program (PDF) |
Pre-Weekend Notes (PDF)
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois volleyball continues their four-match home stand this coming weekend as the Panthers are set to entertain two of the hottest squads in the Ohio Valley Conference. EIU (7-10/1-3) will host Murray State (12-4/3-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 10), prior to hosting Austin Peay (10-10/4-0) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
There's free admission for all the action at the friendly confines of Lantz Arena, where the Panthers just had their nine-match win streak snapped by a five-set loss to Belmont last Saturday.
The Racers rank among the top statistical leaders in the OVC in nearly every category, while the Lady Govs sit undefeated in early league action.
Live stats and online streaming of both matches are available via the EIUpanthers.com website.
PANTHER QUICK SETS
• Despite having their recent nine-match home win streak snapped to Belmont last weekend, the Panthers still continue to lead the opposition in kills, assists, aces, and points, while trailing in hitting %, digs and blocking.
• Juniors Abby Saalfrank and Chelsea Lee continue to pace all Panthers with respective 227 (3.29 kps) and 224 (3.25 kps) kill numbers. Saalfrank owns the fourth best kills-per-set and points-per-set marks in the OVC.
• Saalfrank also ties newcomer Allie Hueston in the service game as each sport 15 aces on the season.
• Hueston has 123 put-downs to her credit while pacing all players at the net with 54 total blocks.
• Junior setter Marah Bradbury has dished out 720 assists this season (10.43 aps) to rank second in the OVC, while having nailed 12 aces of her own and hitting .281 on the year.
• Classmate Stephanie Wallace continues to lead the backcourt defense with 312 digs (4.52), while having become the 26th Panther in school history to notch over 1,000 career digs. She currently ranks fourth in the OVC for digs-per-set.
• Individually, seven different EIU players rank in the statistical OVC Top 10 in a variety of stat categories, lead by Bradbury's second place tally for assists-per-set.
• Team-wise, Eastern ranks second for overall assists and kills for the entire season, also sitting second in OVC-only matches for aces.
• A few weeks ago, the Panthers earned a pair of OVC Weekly Accolades, as Saalfrank and Wallace nabbed respective 'Offensive' and 'Co-Defense Players of the Week' on September 8. Both honors were career firsts for the junior pair.
• EIU also finds themselves ranked in the NCAA Top 75, as they rank 15th for both teams attacks-per-set and total attacks, as well as 26th for team assist numbers.
• Bradbury and Wallace enjoy respective NCAA marks of 15th place for total assists and 35th in total digs.
OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
• In individual match-by-match numbers this season, Lee has led the way in kills in nine contests, while tying Saalfrank as a point leaders in nine matches.
• Lee's 28 kills vs. DePaul back in late September is the most by a Panther this season, while Allie Hueston's .619 attack vs. East Carolina not only ranks as the top clip this season, but also set a new school record for a five-set contest.
• Bradbury dished out a season-best 63 assists in the road five-set loss at JSU, while also tying the single-match ace tally with three unreturnable serves versus the same Gamecock squad.
• Lee also owns the top point tally of 29.5 in EIU's neutral site victory over the Blue Demons of DePaul.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TOIL & TROUBLE
• Thus far this year, Saalfrank has notched nine kill-dig duo-duo performances, which ups her career tally to ten all-time.
• Bradbury, meanwhile, has now registered 27 assist-dig double-doubles of her own, including five this year.
DEFENSIVE ACCOLADES
• Wallace paces all Panthers with 312 digs this season, which includes a new career-high 31 ups during EIU's win over DePaul at the Penn State Classic. That performance helped her earn a spot on the Panthers' career 1,000-Dig club.
• At the net, Hueston leads the way with 54 total blocks, including 45 assisted and nine solo stuffs. She roofed a season-best seven Leatherneck attacks as EIU downed WIU at their own tourney earlier this season. Saalfrank and Lee follow with respective 33 and 30 blocks of their own.
SCOUTING THE RACERS
• Under the direction of long-time skipper David Schwepker, who enters his 16th year at Murray State, the Racers enter the weekend at 12-4 overall and 3-1 in early league action.
• Murray's lone OVC loss came at EIU's Saturday opponent, Austin Peay, as the Lady Govs earned a three-set sweep of the Racers.
• The one-two punch of junior Taylor Olden and sophomore Scottie Ingram leads the Racers offensively behind their respective 174 and 172 kills this season. Junior Alyssa Lelm adds 112 put-downs as well and leads her squad with a .336 attack.
• Junior setter Sam Beddard has an OVC-leading assist tally, while also sporting a wicked serve behind a team-best 16 aces.
• Defensively, sophomore libero Ellie Lorenz paces the back court with 264 digs and ranks second in aces with 13 unreturnable serves, while Lelm owns a team-best 33 total blocks, including nine solo stuffs this season.
• Team-wise, the Racers started the early season with a perfect 9-0 mark, and currently own the OVC top statistical numbers in nearly every category, including highs for hitting %, opponent hitting %, assists, kills, and digs.
• The Panthers currently enjoy a 23-17 all-time series lead over the Racers as Eastern rides a four-match win streak heading into Friday's matchup. EIU also owns a 12-7 advantage over Murray State when playing in Lantz Arena.
QUICK LOOK AT THE LADY GOVS
• Prior to visiting SIU Edwardsville on Friday evening, the Lady Govs of Austin Peay sport an even 10-10 overall and perfect 4-0 OVC record.
• Under the direction of second year head coach Taylor Mott, APSU is led on the court by senior Jada Stotts' 274 kills and .228 attack. She also owns the best dig mark on her squad with 254 digs, plus a tough service game off 22 aces.
• Sophomore Sammie Ebright and senior Hillary Plybon follow with 135 and 100 kills of their own, respectively, with Plybon making her presence known at the net with 32 blocks.
• Junior Aubrey Marsellis runs the offense with 593 assists and ranks second in aces with 18 and has registered 31 blocks as well.
• In other defensive numbers, junior libero April Adams has 179 digs.
• Team-wise, the Lady Govs hold the lead over their opposition in kills, assists, aces, and digs, while just trailing in attack, blocks and points.
• Eastern owns a slight 19-17 all-time series lead over the APSU, which includes having won the last three meetings. Both contests here at Lantz Arena have gone to five sets with the Panthers coming out on top. In fact, EIU leads Peay, 10-6, when playing at home.
MISCELLANEOUS STAT NUMBERS
• In Eastern's four-set home-opening win over instate rival SIUE last week, the Panthers hit a season-best .358, which included zero miscues in the opening set victory.
• Panthers have registered 13 team blocks in two matches this season, the first at WIU and against against DePaul, as EIU earned wins in both contests.
• When leading their opponent in kills, attack and digs, the Panthers are expected to win as EIU are 6-3, 6-1 and 7-2 on the year when holding the advantage in those stat categories, respectively.
BACK ON THE ROAD NEXT WEEK
• As the Panthers finish up the four-match home stand this weekend, EIU will now hit the road for four consecutive league contests.
• Eastern travels to UT Martin and Southeast Missouri next weekend (Oct. 17-18), before once again facing the Lady Govs and Racers of APSU and Murray State on the road on Oct. 24-25.
EYE ON THE REST OF THE OVC
• As of today, Jacksonville State and Austin Peay are the teams to beat as the Gamecocks and Lady Govs sport identical 4-0 starts to the league season.
• Murray State, Eastern Kentucky and Belmont all follow with 3-1 records, while Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State sit at an even 2-2 on the year.
• Southeast Missouri and UT Martin both tie the Panthers with 1-3 early-season OVC records, while SIU Edwardsville ties preseason league favorite Morehead State at 0-4 on the year.
• The big surprise of the 2014 campaign has to be the 0-17 record of perrenial power Morehead State. The four-time defending conference champs are the lone team in the OVC yet to post a victory this year.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
