SAINT CHARLES, Mo. - Eastern Illinois volleyball (16-15, 10-8 OVC) win the regular season finale for the 2022 season by sweeping Lindenwood (11-16, 8-10 OVC) in three sets. EIU is locked in as the four seed for the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference tournament next week.
The set scores tonight were: 15-25, 23-25, 15-25, EIU and Lindenwood split their first two meetings after Lindenwood won the first match. With 16 wins, the Panthers have their most regular season wins since the 2015 season. It is also their most OVC wins since 2015.
The offense was firing on all cylinders Saturday evening as EIU posted 44 kills on a .402 hitting percentage. Giovana Larregui Lopez led the way with a match high 16 kills while also picking up five service aces in the win.
Eastern Illinois only had nine attack errors in three sets on 87 attempts while Lindenwood posted 10. The Lions also had success at the net with 34 kills on a .258 hitting percentage. They were held to a .051 percentage in the final set.
Lilli Amettis was second on the team with nine kills while OVC kills leader
Kaitlyn Flynn tailed eight in the sweep. Kate Dean (five kills) and
Ireland Hieb (four kills) also helped guide EIU to their final regular season win.
Catalina Rochaix was the leading setter in the match for both teams after posting 33 assists of EIU's 44 kills. The Panthers offense had assists on 43 of 44 kills in the match. EIU also had success from the service line with nine aces including three from
Christina Martinez Mundo.
Martinez Mundo was also the leading defender for the Panthers with 14 digs in three sets. Not only was she a factor in keeping the offense alive, she also picked up seven assists for a season high. Hieb, Flynn, and Amettis all earned a block solo against Lindenwood.
The Panthers controlled sets one and three after posting at least 12 kills in both sets. In set two, Lindenwood was up 21-17 towards the conclusion of the set but EIU battled back with a match high 17 kills to take the set.
The Lindenwood Lions were led by Mackenzi Sifuentes on offense with 11 kills while Madilyn Dement added 10 for the Lions. Setter Abby VanBuskirk chipped in a team high 30 assists in the loss. Four Lions had at last three digs including five from VanBuskirk. Lindenwood will be the seven seed in the OVC tournament.
Eastern Illinois will be back for postseason play on Thursday when they take on the No. 5 seeded Southeast Missouri in the OVC Tournament. Times will be announced early next week. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
