Eastern Illinois started the Southern Illinois Saluki Tournament with a win over Southern Illinois. EIU finished the match by winning three straight sets to win 3-2 (21-25, 17-25, 25-11, 25-22, 15-7). This moves EIU to 5-1 on the season.
The Panthers lost the first set to SIU 17-25. EIU was led by
Ella Collins with three kills along with
Summerlyn Smith who had seven assists. Southern Illinois posted a .303 hitting percentage in the first set while EIU had a .200. The Salukis also had 17 kills to EIU's 10 in the first.
EIU fell behind 0-2 after dropping the second set 17-25. SIU again posted a higher hitting percentage than EIU (.086 to .316) in the second and also posted more kills (nine to 16). Eastern Illinois was led by
Danielle Allen with five kills and
Kylie Michael with three kills.
The third saw the Panthers collect their first set as they won 25-11. Allen collected five more kills along with
Kameryn Sillmon who added three. EIU posted a .259 hitting percentage with 11 kills.
Emily Wilcox also had three service aces.
EIU and SIU were even after a 25-22 set win during the fourth behind Allen with seven kills and Collins with four more. Smith had collected a total of 34 assists up to this point while also receiving 16 digs.
After being tied 6-6 in the final set, the Panthers took over to claim a victory winning 15-7 in the opening game of the tournament. Allen finished with a game high 22 kills, Sillmon with seven kills and eight blocks, and Smith with 39 assists.
SIU was led by Tatum Tornatta with 18 kills, Mataly Garcia added 17 kills, and Anna Jaworski notched 54 assists. The Salukis dropped to 3-5 on the season.
The Panthers are back in action tonight at 4 p.m. against Alabama State.
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