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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Eastern Illinois lost its final two matches of the Evansville Dunn Hospitality Tournament to Purdue Fort Wayne and Evansville on Saturday. EIU remains winless through its opening three in-season tournaments falling to 0-9. The Panthers return to action Sept 20-21 at the Youngstown State Red and White Invitational in Youngstown, Ohio.

PURDUE FORT WAYNE 3, EASTERN ILLINOI S 1
 
In the first match of the day for the Panthers Purdue Fort Wayne jumped out to win the first set winning the match 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-9, 25-20). 

The first set opened close as the teams were tied 9-9. Purdue Fort Wayne then went on a 5-0 run to take control of the set as the Panthers never recovered from the Mastodon run

In the second set Purdue Fort Wayne jumped out to a 12-8 lead.  EIU was able to take advantage of three straight Mastodons attack errors midway in the match to gain some momentum.  With the match tied at 21, EIU would again take advantage of two Purdue Fort Wayne attack errors coupled with a pair kills by Maggie Runge to post the win. 
 
In the third set Purdue Fort Wayne hopped out to a 4-0 lead on the serving of Rachel Crucis.  The lead would expand to 14-4 and eventually 19-6 as Crucis again served four straight points for the team. 
 
In the final set Runge helped put the Panthers in front 13-10 with another pair of kills and a block at the net.  With the set tied at 19-19, Purdue Fort Wayne won six of the final seven points to take the match.
 
The Panthers were led by Runge with 13 kills and three blocks.  Bailey Chandler had 28 assists. Hannah Sieg and Katie Sommer added three blocks each.

Purdue Fort Wayne was led by Madelyn Wurster with 14 kills.
 
EVANSVILLE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
 
In the Panthers final match of the tournament they lost to host Evansville, 3-2 (29-31, 25-23, 19-25, 31-29, 17-15)
 
In the first set, EIU pulled out to an early lead with a 4-0 run before the Aces rallied back to tie it up at 12-12. It was back and forth for the rest of the match as Morgan Matusik tied up the match at 24-24 with an ace.  Evansville would rally to win the final two points to edge EIU 31-29 as three of the five sets went beyond regulation scoring. 
 
EIU would take the second set before Evansville built a 2-1 set lead by winning the third.
 
The fourth set again went beyond regulation as it was the Panthers who scored the final two points.  Ireland Hieb tied the match at 25-25.  Runge would get a kill and the Aces would fall on an attack error.
 
In the final set, EIU built a 14-10 lead and appeared headed for its first win of the season.  Evansville was able to take advantage of two EIU attack errors and received two big kills from Melanie Feliciano.  The Aces went up 15-14 before Runge's kill tied the match at 15-15.  The Aces closed out the match with the final two points.
 
The Panthers were led by Hieb with 14 kills.  Maggie Runge add 12 kills and eight blocks.  Laurel Bailey had 10 kills and 21 digs to record a double-double.
 
The Aces were led by Melanie Feliciano with 36 kills and six blocks.