Eastern Illinois (10-14, 3-11 OVC) extends their current winning streak to three matches after defeating the Lady Tigers of Tennessee State (9-14, 1-13 OVC) by a score of 3-1. These were the set scores from today's match: 25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22. EIU moves into eighth place in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Panther defense dominated in the first set after holding TSU to a .053 hitting percentage.
Ashley Sharkus led the way on defense with six digs.
Ireland Hieb led the way for the offense with four kills while three other Panthers collected three kills in the set.
Summerlyn Smith continued her strong weekend with 11 assists. The Lady Tigers were led by Mion Weldon with three kills and Kristian Marshall with five assists.
EIU took a quick 2-0 start to the match after they collected their second set win by a score of 25-18. Defense played a huge role in the second as well as they held Tennessee State to just a .062 hitting percentage.
Danielle Allen joined the action with five kills while
Ireland Hieb collected four more. Smith had nine assists in the second. TSU saw Aleksandra Rojecka collect three block assists and two kills while Weldon added three kills.
Tennessee State took their only set of the afternoon in the third after defeating the Panthers 22-25. EIU was held to a .100 hitting percentage in the set.
Elisavet Papageorgious had four kills in the set for the Panthers and Allen and
Ella Collins added three kills each. Smith also provided 11 assists in the third. Weldon and Kendall Washington both had three kills for TSU while Aria Holmes added three block assists. The Lady Tigers had six blocks in the third.
Saturday's match came to a close in the fourth when EIU closed out the afternoon winning 25-22 in the set. Allen led the way for the offense in the fourth with a team leading six kills and Hieb chipped in five of her own. Smith collected 10 more assists while Sharkus and
TaKenya Stafford played a huge role on the defensive end. Aniya Williams hit five kills in the fourth for TSU and Marshall provided nine assists.
Tennessee State was led by Weldon with 12 kills, Williams with 10 kills, Rojecka with seven kills and seven blocks, and Marshall with 26 assists and nine digs. The Lady Tigers drop their record to 9-14 and 1-13 in the OVC.
The Panthers were led by Allen with 17 kills and four blocks, Hieb with 15 kills and six blocks, Smith with 41 assists and 10 digs, and Sharkus with 24 digs. EIU improves to 10-14, and 3-11 in the OVC. They extend their win streak to three matches.
EIU will be back in action next Friday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. against Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn. LiveStats and ESPN+ will be made available.
