Box Score
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team returned to Lantz Arena for the first of their final two home matches of the 2016 season this weekend. Eastern Illinois and UT Martin went the distance, but it was the Skyhawks who picked up the five-set victory over the Panthers (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 15-17). EIU drops to 5-23 on the season and 2-11 in OVC play. UT Martin improves to 8-20 overall and 4-9 in the OVC. The Panthers will host Southeast Missouri Saturday night at 6 p.m. in their final home match of the 2016 season.
The Panthers and Skyhawks battled close to open up the match in the first set as the score would become tied on eight different occasions with the final time occurring at 9-9 following a UT Martin ace by Madison Wessling.
Josie Winner broke the tie with a kill and sparked a 4-0 run by the Panthers. UT Martin battled back and tied the set at 17-17. UT Martin picked up the next point and led the rest of the set.
UT Martin carried their momentum from the first set into the second and took a 10-1 advantage over the Panthers. The Panthers would not go away quietly however as they used a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 13-9 on a kill by
Taylor Smith. The Panthers kept chipping away and eventually tied the set at 18-18 following an error by UT Martin. The two teams kept the score close down the stretch, but a kill by Winner gave the Panthers the deciding point in the set to even the score at 1-1.
The Skyhawks broke a 5-5 tie in the third set and took an 11-6 lead over the Panthers. Eastern Illinois would use another comeback and tied the set at 15-15 on a block by Smith. The two teams would exchange leads towards the end of the set until UT Martin went ahead 22-21. UT Martin kept the lead for good and took a one-set lead over the Panthers at 2-1.
After UT Martin tied the score in the fourth set at 9-9, Eastern Illinois quickly regained the lead on the next play on another kill by Smith. The Panthers extended their lead to four points at 18-14, but UT Martin would use a comeback of their own to tie the score at 20-20. The score would become tied on 12 different occasions during the fourth set with the final time occurring at 26-26 following a kill by UT Martin's Jemima Idemudia. The Panthers would pick up the next two points, as a block by
Maggie Runge and Winner forced a fifth set against the Skyhawks.
UT Martin appeared as if they would run away with the fifth set as they raced out to a 5-1 lead and forced the Panthers to call a timeout. The timeout worked in favor of the Panthers as a block by
Maria Brown and Runge knotted the score at 6-6. UT Martin answered back with a run of their own and took an 11-8 lead over the Panthers and forced EIU into another timeout. Once again the timeout served its justice as Smith would use another kill to tie the score at 11-11. The two teams would trade leads down the stretch in the fifth set, but it was UT Martin who picked up the final two points and earned the five-set victory.
Smith earned her eighth triple-double of the season as she finished the match with 14 kill, 25 assists, and 22 digs. Brown and Winner both ended the match with a double-double. Brown recorded 17 kills and 20 digs, while Winner ended with 11 kills and 21 digs.
Lindsey Powers and
Alissa Danosky both recorded double-digit digs as they finished with 14 and 12 respectively.Â
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