Friday evening saw a hard fought battle from the Eastern Illinois (7-11, 0-8 OVC) volleyball team as they drop their first match of the weekend in five sets against the Bruins of Belmont University (7-12, 5-4 OVC), 3-2. The scores were as followed for the match: 25-18, 25-20, 24-26, 25-27, 13-15. Eastern has lost their last eight matches in conference play.
The first set saw success for the Panthers are they won 25-18. EIU was up 20-11 midway through the set, and would close out the Bruins with a service ace by
Summerlyn Smith.
Danielle Allen had six kills in the first while posting a .455 hitting percentage, and two block assists. Smith started her night off with seven assists and two service aces. The Panthers collected four service aces in the set. Belmont was led by Lauren Walsh with four kills and Laura Shoopman with two block assists.
EIU collected their second set win of the night in the second by a score of 25-20. They led early in the set by a score of 9-3, and again 21-15. They would go on to close out the set with a kill from
Kameryn Sillmon. Allen came through again in the second with five kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Christina Martinez Mundo added five digs in the set and the team collected four blocks. The Panthers held Belmont to a .158 hitting percentage in the set. They were led by Mary Catherine Ball with five kills and Carly Mason with six assists.
Belmont collected their first set in the third by a score of 26-14. The Bruins took a early 5-0 lead on the Panthers, but they fought back to eventually tie it at 19-19. Shoopman would go on to hit the set winning kill.
TaKenya Stafford collected seven kills in the set for the Panthers, while Sillmon added three more block assists to the Panthers total. Belmont was led by Shoopman in the third with seven kills and Peyton Kelley with seven digs.
The fourth saw the Bruins tie the match up at two a piece with a score of 27-25. Throughout the set there was 11 ties, but Belmont broke through to win by two points late. Stafford and Allen both collected six kills,
Bailey Chandler helped the offense with seven assists, and
Annika Black helped defensively with four block assists. Taylor Floyd had nine kills in the set for the Bruins and Mason added 15 assists to help Belmont win the set.
Ultimately, EIU came just short to capturing their first conference win after losing the last set 15-13. The Panthers tied the last set up at 13-13, but the Bruins finished the night off with a kill by Ball. Allen had three kills in the final and
Kylie Michael added three digs. Belmont was led by Floyd and Shoopman with three kills in each in the final set.
The Bruins saw Floyd have 19 kills and 14 digs, Shoopman with 17 kills and three block assists, and Mason with 47 assists. Belmont improves their record to 7-12 on the season with a 5-4 record in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Eastern Illinois was led by Allen with 24 kills and four block assists, Stafford with 20 kills and 14 digs, Smith with 31 assists, and
Emily Wilcox with five block assists and one block solo. The Panthers fall to 7-11 and 0-8 in the OVC.
EIU is back tomorrow afternoon Saturday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. at Belmont to finish their weekend trip to Nashville, Tenn. LiveStats will be available throughout the match.
