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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois volleyball nabbed their second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference sweep as the Panthers upset Eastern Kentucky (25-22, 25-19, 25-20) on Friday (Oct. 7) evening at Lantz Arena.

The victory ups the Panther record to 6-7 in the league and 12-14 overall, while the Colonels dropped from a second place tie in the OVC standings to third place at 19-12 overall and 9-4 in conference action.

Junior Abby Saalfrank paced all players on the court with a 19 kill, 10 dig double-double, marking her 11th duo-duo performance of the season and 12th all-time.  She hit .457 and registered 19 total points in the sweep.

Redshirt-freshman Josie Winner followed with 10 kills of her own, hitting .286 as well and registering the lone Panther solo block for 11 total points.

Junior setter Marah Bradbury earned her own double-double with 45 assists and 11 digs to now sport 31 such performances as a Panther.  She led EIU to a .290 attack while nailing four kills of her own off seven attacks and no errors for a .571 clip.  She also led her squad behind the service line with a pair of aces and teamed with freshman Allie Hueston for a block as well.

Classmate Kayla Nesbitt and Hueston chipped in respective nine and eight putdowns in the win to round out the Panther attack.

In back row defense, senior Kelsey Brooke tied junior libero Stephanie Wallace by upping 15 EKU attacks, as senior Dakota Springer secured 11 digs of her own.

Meeting for the 36th time, the EIU win helped the Panthers even the all-time series with the Colonels to 18-all, and snapped a recent two-match losing streak.  EIU also avenged last year's season-ending defeat to EKU in the OVC tourney.

Team-wise, the Panthers dominated the Colonels in nearly every statistical category, including holding the advantage in kills, attack, assists, aces, digs, and points.  EKU did finish ahead of EIU in the blocking game, however as the match featured 19 ties and five lead changes.

The Colonels were led by senior Alexis Plagen's 16 kills, while fellow senior Abbey Cvelbar tallied her own duo-duo off 32 assists and a team-best 14 digs.  Junior Rachel Vick added eight additional kills behind a .304 clip, and tied freshman Ciera Koons with four blocks.  EIU did hold the current OVC dig-lead, Dena Ott, below her dig average as the EKU senior finished with 11 ups.

The visiting Colonels led early in the opening set, but the Panthers would eventually tie the set up nine times.  At 20-all, EIU would score two straight off an EKU error and kill by Lee, to force the first timeout of the match by the Colonels.  From that point on, the Panthers would hold on for the eventual 25-22 comeback win for the early match advantage.  EIU out-hit EKU, .208-to-.106 in that frame, while the Colonels held a five-to-two block lead.

The second frame also featured ten ties, but also saw four lead changes.  Even at 16-all and with Bradbury serving, the Panthers would erupt for six straight points which featured consecutive kills by Saalfrank, a pair of aces by the junior setter and sandwiched between two kills by Winner.  EKU would only score just three more points the rest of the way, as the Panthers took the early 2-0 match lead thanks to the 25-19 win.  EIU again enjoyed a .389-to-.158 attack lead in that frame.

The third set went the way of the Panthers, as EIU led from start-to-finish, jumping out to 7-1 before the visitors eventually pulled to within 18-16 of the hosts.  But three straight Panther points would give EIU the cushion en route to the 25-20 win and first sweep over the Colonels since the 2000 season.  EIU just out-hit the Colonels, .300-to-.250 in the last set.

Panthers will finish up the home portion of the slate tomorrow afternoon, as EIU entertains Morehead State at 5 p.m.  The Eagles, who lost at SIUE in straight sets this evening, maintain their last place standing in the OVC race at 2-26 overall and 2-11 in OVC action.

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