Box Score
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team opened up a four-match OVC home stand by hosting Austin Peay on Friday night. The Panthers fell to the visiting Governors in three sets (26-28, 25-27, 15-25). With the loss, Eastern Illinois drops to 4-16 on the season and 1-4 in OVC play. The Panthers will have a quick turnaround as they host Murray State Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in Lantz Arena.
Austin Peay found themselves ahead 12-5 in the early parts of the first set following a service ace by Ginny Gerig. Gerig followed the ace with an error and sparked an Eastern Illinois run.
Josie Winner cut the EIU deficit to a single point at 13-12 on a kill and forced Austin Peay into a timeout. The Panthers continued to chip away at the APSU lead and used a block by
Taylor Smith and
Allie Hueston to knot the score at 19-19. Austin Peay worked a 24-21 lead, but the Panthers would not go away quietly.
Maria Brown earned back-to-back kills to give EIU a 25-24 advantage and forced APSU into another timeout. The timeout worked in the Governors favor as they took the first set 28-26.
In the second set, it was Eastern Illinois who took a commanding lead as a Smith kill put the Panthers out front 19-14. Austin Peay worked their way back into the set and tied the score at 19-19 on a kill by Cecily Gable. The two teams would battle back-and-forth down the stretch until Austin Peay took the lead 24-21. Just like the first set, Eastern Illinois would work another late comeback. Â
Katie Sommer and Hueston combined on a block to pull the Panthers within one point at 24-23. The Panthers would tie the score at 24-24 on an Austin Peay error and again at 25-25 on a kill by Winner, but the Governors earned the final two points in the set and won 27-25.
Austin Peay raced out to an 8-3 lead to begin the third set and forced EIU into a timeout. The Panthers trimmed the Austin Peay to 9-6 on a block by
Maggie Runge and Hueston. After an EIU error, Austin Peay began to take control of the set and extended their lead to 17-7.
Abby Knight and Rungie teamed up on a block to put the score at 22-15 in favor of Austin Peay, but the Governors ended the third set scoring the final three points and earned a 25-15 victory.
Brown and Winner led the Eastern Illinois attack as both players finished with a team-high eight kills each. Brown added 14 digs, while
Lindsey Powers finished the match with 15 digs. Hueston totaled six blocks in the match for the Panthers.
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