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Pre-Weekend Match Notes (PDF.)

The Eastern Illinois volleyball team ended their four game home stand in style, as they were able to pull out a pair of victories against Austin Peay and Murray State to improve to 8-2 on the season in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Panthers ousted Austin Peay in a 3-1 decision on Friday night (Oct. 23), before grinding out a 3-2 come from behind victory against Murray State Saturday afternoon (Oct. 24). After finishing their home stand at a perfect 4-0 mark, the Panthers will travel to Southeast Missouri and UT Martin for a pair of OVC contests. 
 
THIS WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, OCT. 30
    at  Southeast Missouri, 6:30 pm, Houck Fieldhouse, Cape Girardeau, Mo. (Live Stats) / (Live Video)

SATURDAY, OCT. 24
    at UT Martin, 2 pm, Skyhawk Fieldhouse, Martin, Tenn. (Live Stats) / (Live Video)

PANTHERS WIN ON HOMECOMING WEEKEND
As Eastern Illinois University was celebrating their 100th anniversary of Homecoming Weekend on campus, the Panthers used a large capacity crowd to their advantage on the court inside Lantz Arena. The Panthers were slated for a pair of rematch contests against Austin Peay and Murray State. The Panthers defeated APSU on October 10, at Austin Peay by a score of 3-1. The Panthers were looking to avenge their 3-0 defeat at Murray State on October 9. The Panthers came out on top in both contests, as they defeated APSU 3-1, before an impressive 3-2 win against the OVC's top-ranked team in Murray State.

With the two victories over the weekend, EIU remains at a tie for second place in the OVC with Belmont. Both the Panthers and Belmont share identical 8-2 records in the conference. Despite dropping their match at EIU, Murray State still sits in sole possession in first place in the OVC with a 9-1 record.

With all the hype focused on the following night with the match against Murray State, EIU played the weekend one game at a time as they handled business against Austin Peay in a 3-1 victory (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22) to begin EIU's Homecoming Weekend. Taylor Smith earned her fifth triple-double of the season, as she ended the game with 18 kills, 20 assists, and 14 digs. Stephanie Wallace braced the Panther defense as she finished with 30 digs on the night, just one shy of tying her career-high of 31 digs in a match.

Eastern Illinois poised as the next team to attempt to knock Murray State from their perfect OVC record, as Murray State defeated SIU Edwardsville 3-1 on Friday night. With a tough task at hand, the Panthers took on the challenge, and came away victorious with a 3-2 come from behind win (25-21, 14-25, 20-25, 30-28, 16-14). Allie Hueston led the Panther attacking game as she finished the match with 11 kills. Smith and Wallace contributed to the defensive efforts as they both pitched in 19 digs each. Josie Winner helped slow down the free swinging Racers' attack as she ended the night with a career-high 12 total blocks.

SMITH EARNS SECOND OVC WEEKLY AWARD
Freshman (OH/S), Taylor Smith was named as the OVC Newcomer of the Week for the second consecutive week following another triple-double and double-double performance. The honor marks the second of such for Smith in her career. Her five triple-doubles on the year place her at a tie for the fourth best total in NCAA Division I volleyball this season.   

LEE SEEKING 1,000 KILL CLUB
Entering this weekend, senior (OH/MB) Chelsea Lee has a career total of 998 kills. She is in search of just two kills this weekend against Southeast Missouri and UT Martin. Upon totaling the two kills, she will join teammate, Abby Saalfrank, as the only active Panthers in the prestigious category.

QUOTING COACH WOLINSKI
"We had a pair OVC of wins on the weekend, as it started off with Austin Peay and then Murray. I think for Murray, again it is just giving our players the confidence to know they can go in and beat anybody at any given time; They have just got to trust in themselves, and trust in the process, and that is exactly why we were able to pull that match out against Murray.  

Josie (Winner) had 12 blocks against Murray. I think that is just fantastic as she has come back strong from her injury. She is getting it done offensively and with her blocking. It is giving her a ton of confidence, as the little things do not bother her. If she misses a block or an attack it is no big deal she just gets right after it and gets going.

This weekend is just as important, probably because it is such a high of the weekend, and we play SEMO and UT Martin again. We had a five set thriller with SEMO and we went four sets with UT Martin. We just want to keep winning, it is one match at a time, let's get a couple more wins because it is about us peaking at that OVC tournament, and that is what we are gearing up for at this point." 

PANTHERS IN THE OVC
The Panthers improved their record to 8-2 in the OVC after this past weekend's results. Several individuals have remained in the top 10 in the OVC statistically with their play in conference matches. Hueston continues to hold the top hitting percentage mark at .421. Winner is hitting at .294 in conference play, putting her with the ninth best mark. Winner also holds the fourth place spot in terms of blocks per set, averaging 1.15. Marah Bradbury is dishing out assists at an average of 5.87 per set, which places her as 10th best. Wallace is in second place in the average digs per set with a 4.74 posting.   

As a complete team, the Panthers continue to rank themselves among the top 10 in the OVC during conference play. EIU currently leads the league in hitting percentage (.237) and digs per set average (17.23). The Panthers have the second best blocks per set average at 2.08. With 12.62 assists per set and 13.51 kills per set, EIU holds third place honors in those perspective categories. Finally, EIU has the sixth best opponent hitting percentage (.188) and eighth best service ace average (1.08).

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS & SKYHAWKS
Despite a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over SEMO just two weeks prior to this weekend's match, EIU still trails the all-time series against the Redhawks 17-30.

SEMO is in the middle of the hunt for a spot in the OVC tournament with a 4-6 conference record. Nzingha Clarke and Madalyn Werths continue to lead the Redhawk attack as both players have accumulated over 100 kills each in OVC contests. Southeast Missouri holds the best block per set average in conference matches, as Clarke, with her 48 total blocks, will look to slow down the Panthers' offense.

With EIU's 3-1 decision against UT Martin earlier this season, the Panthers improve their all-time series record versus the Skyhawks to a 26-15 advantage. The Panthers are currently riding a five game winning streak in the series.

With a 3-7 record in conference play, the Skyhawks will look to steal a win from the Panthers to better their chances of making the conference tournament. Lael Ceriani is the player to look out for in the UT Martin attack as she has totaled 100 kills in OVC play. Kiah Cheatham will hold to Skyhawk net-defense, as she has earned 47 total blocks for conference matches.

A LOOK AHEAD
Following the matches against SEMO and UT Martin, the Panthers will head out on their final road trip of the regular season with visits to Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State (Nov. 6-7). EIU will finish up the regular season back home in Lantz Arena, as they host SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee State (Nov. 11 & Nov. 14).