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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Eastern Illinois volleyball looked to carry over its momentum after their 3-1 victory over UIC the previous night and keep things going in the right direction headed into day two at the IPFW Invitational. The competition would not get any easier for the Panthers as they were slated to face Central Michigan to open the second day and invitational-host IPFW in the night-cap. EIU finished day two of the IPFW Invitational with a pair of wins to earn a perfect 3-0 tournament mark and earn the team championship trophy.

Eastern Illinois 3, Central Michigan 2

In a game that appeared to be one-sided, the EIU Panthers came from behind down two sets and won the next three to defeat Central Michigan 3-2 in the morning game of the IPFW Invitational. The scores of the match finished as 19-25, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20, 15-13.

The first set saw a lot of back and forth action in the early moments after a block by Allie Hueston and Chelsea Lee tied the game up 3-3. From there, CMU appeared to take control of the set, as they rolled off seven of the next nine points to take a 10-5 advantage. A service ace by Marah Bradbury brought the Panthers within four, but CMU went on a streak late to take game one 25-19.

The Panthers looked to get things going early in the second set as they jumped out to an 11-6 lead after a Taylor Smith put-down. After a CMU time out, the Panthers kept the momentum on their side and gathered an 18-12 lead with the help of a CMU attacking error. The Chippewas brought themselves back into the set, and squared things up at 20-20. The two teams traded leads, until CMU was able to win a couple points in a row to win set two, 26-24.

EIU was determined to not let CMU take the match that easy, and made a statement in set number three. The Panthers quickly raced out to a commanding 10-4 lead after a block from Josie Winner and Abby Saalfrank. The Chippewas again tried to comeback in the set, but this time the Panthers would not give up their lead. EIU gathered a lead by as much as nine points within the set, and went on to take game three by a score of 25-15.

The hot starts continued for the Panthers into set four as they lead 11-6 early on with the help of a pair of kills from Nesbitt and Winner. The Nesbitt-Winner duo continued to find holes in the Chippewas defense and saw the score at 16-9 EIU. CMU found themselves in a three point deficit, until a pair of kills from Hueston and Saalfrank sealed up the set for a 25-20 EIU win.

The match came down to the fifth set, and neither team wanted to go home empty handed after a hard fought match. The fifth set, much like the first, repeated a lot of alternate scores. The lead never reached more than a point, until a Bradbury kill gave the Panthers a 14-12 advantage. CMU would earn the next point after a kill from their Jessica Meichtry. EIU would take the set and the match after a Lee put-down as the fifth set finished with a score of 15-13.

Hueston and Nesbitt both tallied double-digit kills with 13 and 12 respectively. Bradbury dished out 45 assists, while Stephanie Wallace and Lee paced the Panthers defense with 18 and 13 digs each.

Coach Wolinski after the CMU game, "Our serve receive game was outstanding in sets 3-5, and our middles did a good job producing to open our offense up for the pins."
 
Eastern Illinois 3, IPFW 0

Eastern looked to build on their success from their previous two games, and continue with their recent success against Invitational-host IPFW in the night-cap. The Panthers swept the host-team in sets 3-0 by scores of 25-18, 25-18, 28-26.

The Panthers would take a 10-5 lead over the Mastodons in the first set behind a pair of aces from Bradbury. IPFW looked to ease themselves back into the game, until a trio of put-downs from Lee closed the door as the Panthers took game one 25-18.

Game two started out fairly even between the two squads as they traded leads until a kill by the Mastodons' Somer Johnson tied the game up at 12-12. The Panthers looked to open a lead momentarily after getting production from Smith and Lee, but IPFW tied the game up on three different occasions, 15-15,16-16, and 17-17. A kill from Saalfrank gave the Panthers a one point advantage. Six straight errors by IPFW gave EIU a comfortable lead, and a kill from Lee finished off game two 25-18.

IPFW sought to bring the home-crowd back into set three, as the Mastodons would take the first six points of the game. A couple kills from Nesbitt and Saalfrank cut the Mastodon lead to four. IPFW then took six of the next eight points to post an 16-8 lead. An EIU timeout appeared to take IPFW out of their rhythm as Hueston was able to put-down a couple winners for the Panthers and bring the lead to five. The Panthers continued to work their way back into the set as they were able to tie the score for the first time 20-20 following another Lee kill. A Hueston kill gave the Panthers their first lead of the match at 25-24. After a couple lead changes, Hueston again gave the Panthers a one-point advantage following an ace. Nesbitt finished off the set with a kill of her own, as the Panthers took game three 28-26 and swept the match 3-0.

Lee finished with her second kill-dig double-double of the year as she finished the game with 10 kills and 14 digs. Nesbitt lead the team with 11 kills. Bradbury handed out 41 assists, and Wallace and Anne Hughes broke double-digit marks in digs with 14 and 10 respectively.

Bradbury, Hueston, and Nesbitt (MVP) earned All-Tournament honors at the IPFW Invitational.

Coach Wolinski was pleased with the results from the win over IPFW and was noted after the game saying, "Our side out game was outstanding in the first two sets along with our serving game. Kayla was very consistent on the outside attack, earning us kills when we needed them. I am just so proud of this team and what they have accomplished this weekend. They fought hard and trusted in the process which helped lead to our success... An amazing way to start the season."

The perfect 3-0 record at the IPFW Invitational marks the first season-opening tournament win since 1987, when the Panthers finished 4-1 mark to win the DePaul Invitational that year. Since 1987, the Panthers have also earned 13 runner-up titles in season-opening tourney.

IPFW Invitational Final Standings
1 - Eastern Illinois -- 3-0
2 - Illinois-Chicago -- 1-2 (6-7/.462*)
3 - Central Michigan -- 1-2 (6-8/.429*)
4 - IPFW -- 1-2 (4-7/.364*)
* - tie-breaker based on winning % of all sets played
 
IPFW Invite All-Tournament Team
Kayla Nesbitt (MVP) … EIU
Marah Bradbury … EIU
Allie Hueston … EIU
Stephenee Yancy … UIC
Nicole Johns … UIC
Jordan Bueter … CMU
Somer Johnson … IPFW

Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday (Sep. 1) night as EIU is set to host Indiana State in the 2015 home opener at 6 pm in Lantz Arena.