Tweet #EIUBleedBlue

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – After four-straight matches at home, the Eastern Illinois volleyball team returned to action on the road at Jacksonville State. The Panthers started off strong winning the first two sets, but Jacksonville State rallied back to take the next two and forced a fifth game. Eastern Illinois came out on top in the fifth set to take the match 3-2 (25-23, 25-12, 22-25, 20-25, 15-11). The Panthers picked up their second OVC win of the season and improved to 2-7 in the conference and 5-19 overall. Jacksonville State drops to 5-4 in the OVC and 17-12 overall. Eastern Illinois will complete their quick two-match road trip with a contest at Tennessee Tech Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.

The first set started out close between the Panthers and Gamecocks as the score would be tied on six different occasions until Allie Hueston broke an 8-8 draw on a kill and gave Eastern Illinois a one point advantage. Hueston extended the EIU lead to three points on another kill and forced Jacksonville State to call a timeout trailing 13-9. The timeout worked in favor of the Gamecocks as they rallied off the next three points out of the break until a kill by Maria Brown broke the streak. The Panthers would once again extend their lead to three points, but JSU chipped away and knotted the score at 21-21. The score would become tied once more at 23-23, but a kill by Katie Sommer and a block by Abby Knight gave the Panthers the first set victory.

Eastern Illinois ran away with the second set as they raced out to an 11-4 lead to begin the set. The Panthers kept applying pressure to Jacksonville State and extended the lead to 16-7 on a kill by Brown. Jacksonville State had no answer for the Eastern Illinois offense as the Panthers closed the set scoring six of the last seven points and finished the second set on a kill by Hueston.

The Panthers found themselves in a hole early as Jacksonville State earned the first five points to begin the third set. EIU used a 7-2 run to work their way back into the set and tie the score at 7-7. Jacksonville State worked another lead, but a kill by Brown would once again tie the score, this time at 13-13. The Panthers took a brief lead in the set at 21-19, but the Gamecocks closed the set scoring six of the final seven points to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Just like the third set, the Panthers were forced to play from behind after Jacksonville State jumped out to a 9-3 lead on a kill by JSU's Sadie Anderson to begin the fourth set. The lead remained steady until the Panthers worked a comeback towards the middle of the set. Knight started a 5-0 run that was capped off by an Brown ace that cut the JSU lead to 17-14. Josie Winner pulled EIU within two points at 20-18 on a kill. That would be as close as the Panthers would get however as an EIU error gave Jacksonville State the deciding point in the fourth set.

Jacksonville State looked as if they would take the fifth set easily as a kill by Allyson Zuhlke put the Gamecocks out front 5-1. The Panthers had other plans however as they stormed back with a 6-0 and overtook the lead at 7-5. The Gamecocks tied the score at 9-9, but it was all Eastern Illinois the rest of the way as a kill by Winner sealed the five-set victory for the Panthers.

Brown and Winner both finished the match with a double-double. Brown recorded a match-high 17 kills to go along with her 15 digs. Winner ended with a team-high 17 digs and added 14 kills. Hueston added 15 kills, while Lindsey Powers chipped in 16 digs.