CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois volleyball and Austin Peay were set to square off Friday night, but with a little added incentive as the two teams played part in the American Cancer Society's- Colleges Against Cancer Volleyball Campaign. With a large crowd in support of the Panthers in Lantz Arena, EIU was able to come away with a 3-1 win over Austin Peay (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22) to improve to 12-11 on the year and 7-2 in the OVC.
The Panthers were working off the crowd's energy as after Austin Peay would tie the first set at 4-4, EIU began to take the momentum in the set. A kill by
Josie Winner gave the Panthers their largest lead of the set at nine points by a score of 19-10. Austin Peay would find a way to cut the lead to as little as five, but
Allie Hueston finished off the set with a kill, making the score 25-17 in favor of EIU.
Neither team would budge in the second set as the lead would sway from side to side.
Taylor Smith put the Panthers ahead late in the set 21-20 with a kill, but a timeout by Austin Peay would break EIU's rhythm. APSU would take a 24-23 lead over Eastern Illinois, when the Panthers called a timeout of their own to put the momentum back in their favor. The Lady Govs held strong however as they would earn the next point and take the second set victory 25-23.
A lot of back-and-forth scoring began the third set.
Allie Hueston knotted the game at 13-13 with a kill, as the Panthers looked to break away from the Lady Govs from there. With a five point lead in EIU's favor late in the set, things looked as if the Panthers would finish the set with ease until APSU tied the set at 20-20. The score would become tied on three different occasions from there before an Austin Peay ball handling error sealed up the third set for the Panthers 25-23.
Austin Peay came out firing in the fourth set as they took an 8-4 lead before a Panther timeout. A pair of
Chelsea Lee kills and an attack error by Austin Peay tied the set at 8-8. Austin Peay would then control the middle portion of the set, but Lee would once again tie the set, this time at 20-20. The two teams would trade leads, with back-to-back kills by Smith completing the set 25-22.
Smith earned herself another triple-double as she finished the match with 18 kills, 20 assists, and 14 digs.
Marah Bradbury put forth a double-double effort, finishing with 30 assists and 13 digs.
Stephanie Wallace put forth a solid defensive game, as she finished with a match-high 30 digs, just one away from tying her career-high of 31.
"(It was a) great win tonight.
Stephanie Wallace was great on defense with 30 digs, and
Taylor Smith had a great night with another triple-double. Marah did a great job distributing on offense as well. (It was) just a gut-check win for our team tonight, especially to come back from 15-20 and finish on a 10-2 run to win the match. We find a way to get the win and that is what good teams do!"
EIU will be tested again tomorrow as they welcome conference foe Murray State, who is coming into tomorrow's contest with a perfect 9-0 record in the OVC. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night (Oct. 24) as part of Homecoming Weekend at Eastern Illinois.
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