CHARLESTON, Ill. – For the second match in a row, Eastern Illinois volleyball went the distance to determine a winner. The Panthers squared off against Morehead State in their final contest of their four-match home stand. After EIU took the first two sets, Morehead State rallied back to win the next three and stole a five-set victory over the Panthers (29-27, 25-16, 19-25, 15-25, 10-15). Eastern Illinois falls to 4-19 (1-7 OVC) as Morehead State Improves to 8-13 (4-4 OVC). The Panthers will travel to Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech for a pair of Ohio Valley Conference matches next weekend (Oct. 21-22).

Morehead State found themselves with a four-point lead at 13-9 following a kill by Merideth Jewell, but a kill by EIU's Katie Sommer on the following play sparked an Eastern Illinois comeback. Maria Brown tied the set at 14-14 on a kill as the seesaw battle would begin. The score would become tied on 11 different occasions down the stretch as a kill by Morehead State's Maddie Fella would knot the score at 27-27. Josie Winner scored the final two points in the set on back-to-back kills to give EIU the first set 29-27.

The Panthers kept things rolling into the second set as they raced out to an early 5-1 lead. Morehead State managed to work their way back into the set and tie the score at 7-7 and again at 8-8, but Eastern Illinois would later use a 6-0 run to regain the lead at 17-10. The Panthers cruised the rest of the set and went ahead 2-0 after taking the second game 25-16.

Morehead State broke a 6-6 tie in the third set and would hold the lead the rest of the way. The Morehead State lead grew to as many as 10 points at 22-12 on a kill by Karlee Reynolds. The Panthers trailed 24-15 near the end of the set, but would not go away easily. Eastern Illinois looked as if they would be able to pull off a comeback in the set as they would go on a 4-0 run, but a Morehead State timeout took the Panthers out of their rhythm as the Eagles would score the next point out of the break and won the third set 25-19.

A 7-0 run by Morehead State in the middle of the fourth set gave the Eagles a comfortable 16-7 advantage. The Panthers were once again in search for a comeback as a kill by Brown pulled EIU within six-points at 20-14. Morehead State scored five of the final six points to earn the fourth set victory at 25-15 and force a fifth set.

The fifth set started out tightly played between Eastern Illinois and Morehead State. Brown knotted the score at 5-5, but Morehead State quickly regained the lead the following play on a kill by Sydney Schuler. After Morehead State extended their lead to three points at 8-5, Eastern Illinois cut the deficit to a single point at 10-9 on a Gina Furlin ace and forced the Eagles into a timeout. The timeout would once again work in favor of Morehead State as they would begin to pull away and closed the fifth set on a 4-0 run to win 15-10.

Sommer ended the match with a team-high 12 kills to lead the EIU offense as Winner finished just behind at 11 kills. After setting a new career-high in digs in the Panthers last match versus Eastern Kentucky, Lindsey Powers trumped her total again as she finished with 26 digs against the Eagles. Furlin and Brown finished with 19 digs each, with Furlin adding 42 assists to earn her second double-double of the season.