EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois University volleyball team continued their dominating streak to begin Ohio Valley Conference play despite dropping their first set, as they trumped SIU Edwardsville 3-1 to improve to 3-0 in the OVC.
A fairly even match was played to begin the first set as a service ace from
Kayla Nesbitt tied the set up at 8-8. EIU began to work up a lead to 19-15 behind a kill from
Abby Saalfrank. SIUE would cut the Panther lead following an EIU ball handling error to put the score at 22-20 in favor of EIU.
Abby Knight put an end to the Cougar rally, as her kill finished the set with a 25-20 decision.
A closely played set happened throughout the second game. Both teams battled for leads, only to see them diminish. Saalfrank brought the Panthers back to within a point at 23-22 with a put-down, but SIUE would take advantage of another Panther error and would use a kill from their Carley Ramich to steal game two away from the Panthers 25-22, marking the first set the Panthers have dropped to begin OVC play this season.
With the game tied up at a set apiece, both teams were in search of taking a game advantage with a third set victory. Saalfrank gave EIU a slight 16-15 lead, as the Panthers would not trail the rest of the set. With the score 21-19 in favor of the Panthers, a
Chelsea Lee kill and a pair of SIUE errors sealed up the third game for EIU 25-20.
A quick 7-2 lead by the Cougars called for a Panther timeout to begin the fourth set. The timeout seemed to have knocked SIUE out of their rhythm, as the Panthers went on an 8-2 run of their own to take a 10-9 lead following a
Maria Brown kill. The two teams would continue to trade leads throughout the rest of the set until
Taylor Smith put down a winner to give the Panthers a 23-21 advantage. A pair of EIU kills from Brown and Saalfrank earned the Panthers a fourth set victory 25-22, and the match 3-1.
Brown finished the game with a kill/dig double-double as she tallied 11 kills and 20 digs to lead the team. Smith added an assist/dig double-double of her own as she totaled 26 assists with 11 digs.
Allie Hueston continued her impressive hitting streak as she finished with nine kills while posting a .600 hitting percentage.
Stephanie Wallace helped the defensive efforts by adding 15 digs.
Coach Wolinski was impressed with the way her team competed in the victory over SIUE saying, "It was a great road win for our team against a solid team. I called it a great 'gut check win for us.' Allie had another strong game for us, while Chelsea gave us a lift on the outside in the last two sets. It was another balanced scoring game for us, and our back row was solid in the last two sets."
The Panthers continue OVC action this weekend as they travel to Belmont this Saturday (Oct. 3) for a 2 p.m. contest.
Â
