Box Score |
Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois opened the 2020 volleyball season which has been adjusted to be played in the Spring of 2021 on Sunday afternoon at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena. The Panthers battled early splitting the first two sets with Morehead State before MSU won the final two sets for a 3-1 win.
MSU won 25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 25-16 in the opener for both schools. Under the Ohio Valley Conference format for this season, teams will face the same opponent in back-to-back days, so EIU and MSU will face off again on Monday with a 3 p.m. first serve on ESPN+.
In the match three Panthers finished with double figure kills led by senior
Laurel Bailey with 15.
Ireland Hieb had 11 with
Kylie Michael adding ten. Hieb finished with a double-double for EIU with 11 digs and six of the Panthers nine service aces.
Olivia Lohmeier led a pair of Eagles with double figure kills finishing with 13. Lauren Rokey added ten. Bridget Bessler had 30 assists on 39 of the MSU kills.
Lohmeier had five kills for MSU in the first set as the Eagles broke a 17-17 tie with a kill by Lohmeier and two attack errors by EIU as Morehead State extended the lead to 21-17. Morehead State hit .333 percent in the opening set.
Eastern Illinois rebounded in the second set jumping out to a 4-0 lead with a pair of Hieb service aces. EIU extended the lead to 10-4 pulling away for the set win. Bailey had four kills in the set, Hieb had thee kills.
Morehead State turned the table to start the third set jumping out to a 5-0 lead. EIU would close to within 9-7 before four straight points off the serve of Lohmeier gave MSU some breathing room. MSU would have three more segments with three scored points off the serve as EIU hit .062 in the set. Mia Swearingen led the Eagles with four kills in the set.
In the final set, Allison Whitten held serve for the Eagles for 12 straight points as Morehead State opened up a 13-2 lead. Whitten dropped in three consecutive aces during the set and finished the set with four service aces, five total for the match. The Eagles played several combinations in the final set after building the big lead with three players finishing with two kills. Bailey led EIU in the set with four kills.
