Led by
Danielle Allen and
Summerlyn Smith, the Panthers start their weekend 2-0 at the Southern Illinois Saluki Tournament. During their second match on Friday, EIU defeated Alabama State in four sets (27-25, 24-26, 25-9, 25-21). Eastern improves its record to 6-1 on the season.
In the first set, the Panthers were led by Allen with six kills to start the match.
Lorraine Perez contributed with 15 digs in her second appearance this year, and Smith added 15 more assists. Eastern had 17 kills in the first set with a .278 hitting percentage. Lauren Hughes led ASU with three kills.
EIU dropped the second set 24-26. Allen collected six more kills during the set, and
Kameryn Sillmon added three kills. Kalysia Bates and Jada Rhodes led Alabama State with four kills each.
The Panthers held the hornets to nine points in the third set which marks the lowest point total for an opposing team in a 25 point set this season. Allen had five kills in the third with Smith adding nine assists. EIU had a .429 hitting percentage and held ASU to a -.077.
The fourth set concluded the match with a 25-21 victory for the Panthers. Allen led the match with 22 kills and collected 44 on the day.
Ella Collins had nine kills with
Emily Wilcox and
Kaitlyn Flynn each adding eight. Smith had 47 assists in the match and Perez had 23 digs.
ASU was led by A'nylah Cobb with 11 kills , Mahogany Vinson with nine kills, and Madison Beasley with 39 assists.
Eastern Illinois plays their last match of the Southern Illinois Saluki Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. against USC Upstate.
