Box Score BROOKINGS, S.D. – Eastern Illinois volleyball fell to Big Ten power Iowa to open South Dakota State Challenge action on Friday (Sep. 12) morning, as the Panthers dropped their first three-set match of the early season (25-23, 25-23, 25-15). The loss moves EIU to 4-3 overall.
Newcomer
Allie Hueston led the Panther offense with eight kills and 11 points off a .389 attack, while tying classmate
Maria Brown with a pair of blocks.
Abby Saalfrank followed with seven kills of her own, while fellow junior
Chelsea Lee and senior
Kelsey Roggemann each chipped in six put-downs in the morning contest.
Junior setter
Marah Bradbury dished out 28 assists and tallied five kills off zero errors for a .556 attack clip. While in back court defense, junior libero Brittany Wallace recorded 12 digs.
Freshman Jess Janota led all players on the court with 13 kills, while sophomore Lauren Brobst hit .667 in the contest behind eight kills, zero errors and a .667 attack. Junior Mikaela Gunderson led the Iowa net defense with four blocks as freshman libero Michelle Fugarino finished with 17 digs.
The match featured 19 ties and nine lead changes, as EIU jumped out to an early lead in the opening frame to only see the Hawkeyes (5-2) battle back to earn the first set win off a very late set run. EIU hit a match-best .286 in the opening set, but Iowa also hit well at .387.
Iowa continued strong play in the second frame to take their own commanding lead before the Panthers countered with their own multi-point run mid-way through. Unfortunately Eastern was unable to keep the momentum going as the Hawkeyes held on for their second straight 25-23 win. EIU was limited to a .064 attack as compared to .206 for the Big Ten foes.
The Hawkeyes enjoyed a .267 to -.094 hitting advantage in the final frame en route to 25-15 win and three-set sweep.
Iowa out-paced the Panthers in kills, attack, assists, aces, digs, blocks, and points, yet committed three more service errors and had five more blocking miscues than EIU.
With the loss, EIU now trails Iowa, 4-1, in the all-time Division I series history.
The Panthers will have the rest of the day off to prepare for tomorrow's noon and 5 p.m. matchup versus the weekend host Jackrabbits and North Dakota, respectively, to finish up the tournament action.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
