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Box Score

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the fourth time in as many contests, it came down to a fifth set to decide a winner between the Eastern Illinois volleyball team and their opponent. The Eastern Illinois volleyball team lost a hard-fought five-set match to Tennessee Tech, falling 21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 16-18 to the Golden Eagles. EIU drops to 5-20 (2-8 OVC) while Tennessee Tech improves to 7-16 (3-7 OVC). The Panthers will return to Lantz Arena Wednesday night for a midweek conference match against SIUE at 6 p.m.

After trailing 11-6 early in the first set, a kill by Josie Winner capped off a 5-0 run by the Panthers to tie the score at 11-11. Tennessee Tech regained their momentum in the set and took an 18-13 advantage over EIU. The Panthers battled back and cut the deficit to one point at 20-19 on a TTU error. The Golden Eagles began to pull away and won the first set on an EIU error.

A kill by Katie Sommer broke a 7-7 tie in the second set as the Panthers used an 11-0 run to take a commanding 18-7 lead over Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles were able to work their way back into the set as a kill by Emily Brooks cut the EIU lead to 22-18. The Panthers went on to score the final three points in the set as a kill by Maria Brown tied the match at 1-1.

Both teams battled back-and-forth in the third set as the score became tied on 12 different occasions, with the last occurring at 15-15 on a kill by TTU's Shealene Little. The Golden Eagles used a four-point run and began to pull away from the Panthers. The Panthers attempted one final comeback as Allie Hueston and Brown recorded another kill each, but Abigail Duncan put Tennessee Tech ahead 2-1.

Tennessee Tech jumped out to a commanding 8-1 lead to begin the fourth set and looked like they would cruise the rest of the way. The Panthers would not go away easily however as they cut the deficit to three-points at 13-10 on a kill by Maggie Runge. Tennessee Tech responded, scoring the next three points to extend their lead to six. The Panthers answered right back with a big five-point rally of their own as an error by TTU pulled Eastern Illinois within one at 17-16. The two teams would exchange points until the score read 23-19 in favor of TTU. The Panthers ended the set on a 6-0 run as a kill by Taylor Smith completed the comeback and evened the match at 2-2.

Runge combined with Smith on two blocks and Brown on another to begin the fifth set and put the Panthers ahead 3-0 early. Tennessee Tech worked their way back into the set and with the help of a four-point run, overtook the lead at 8-7. The back-and-forth action began as the two teams exchanged leads down the stretch. After a block by Sommer and Hueston followed by another TTU error, the Golden Eagles elected to call a timeout. The timeout worked in favor of Tennessee Tech as they earned the next two points out of the break and forced the Panthers into a timeout. The Panthers worked a 15-14 lead out of the timeout on a kill by Brown. TTU ended the fifth set scoring four of the final five points to complete the five set win.

Four Panthers – Winner, Brown, Smith, and Gina Furlin – all finished the match with a double-double. Winner led the way as she set a new career-high in kills (18) and digs (26). Brown recorded 14 kills to go along with her 20 digs. Smith finished the match with 22 assists and 13 digs while Furlin dished out 25 assists with 11 digs.