Charleston, Ill- The Eastern Illinois volleyball team played OVC opponent Southeast Missouri on Saturday evening. The Redhawks defeated the Panthers 3-1.
 
With the loss, EIU drops to 10-19 on the season and 5-9 in the OVC.
 
The first set began with two big runs from both teams. The Panthers jumped out to a quick 5-0 run ignited by a Laurel Bailey kill. SEMO would answer back with a 5-0 kicked off by a Taylor Smith service error. The two teams would trade runs back-and-fourth throughout the set. SEMO would grab the first set from the Panthers 25-21.
 
The Panthers would battle back to take the second set from SEMO. The Panthers would jump out to a 4-0 run midway through the set ignited by a Smith kill to give themselves a nice lead over SEMO. SEMO would string together a 3-0 run late to force a win by two situation. The Panthers were able to rally to secure the set from SEMO 28-26. EIU would hit for their best hitting percentage of the night in the second set hitting .271.
 
SEMO would take come out of the match break aggressive taking the third and forth sets from the Panthers. SEMO would hit for their best hitting percentages of the night in the third and forth sets. SEMO hit for .286 in the fourth set and .286 in the third set.
 
Smith finished with her fourth consecutive triple-double finishing with 20 assists, 15 kills, and 11 digs. Bailey earned a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs.
 
The Panthers return to Lantz Arena to wrap up their 2018 season against OVC opponents Murray State and Austin Peay.