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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois (0-3, 0-2 OVC) dropped two hard fought matches Friday afternoon as the Panthers participated in their first ever Ohio Valley Conference beach volleyball weekend hosted by Chattanooga University. EIU lost 5-0 to defending OVC Champions Austin Peay and UT Martin.

During their first match against last year's beach volleyball champions, the Panthers were competitive in all five matches. After winning their first career matches earlier this week against #10 Missouri Baptist (NAIA), Elisavet Papageorgiou and Christina Martinez Mundo pushed the Governors in the first when they fell 21-19. 

In the number three pairing, Ella Collins and Emily Wilcox pushed Erin Eisenhart and Maggie Keenan to extra time in set two, coming just short with a 24-22 loss.

MATCH ONE RESULTS
1. Bullington, Marlayna/Mead, Kelsey (APSU) def. TaKenya Stafford/Ashley Sharkus (EIU) 21-10, 21-10
2. Moore, Brooke/Powell, Mikayla (APSU) def. Elisavet Papageorgiou/Christina Martinez Mundo (EIU) 21-19, 21-12
3. EIisenhart, Erin/Keenan, Maggie (APSU) def. Ella Collins/Emily Wilcox (EIU) 21-12, 24-22
4. Mcinnis, Demi/Graham, Karli (APSU) def. Catalina Rochaix/Ireland Hieb (EIU) 21-15, 21-11
5. Waite, Caroline/Buggs, Janvier (APSU) def. Kaitlyn Flynn/Anna Moster (EIU) 21-9, 21-11

During match two against UT Martin, the Panthers switched up their line-ups for some of the pairings. Papageorgiou and Martinez Mundo were moved to the number one pairing, TaKenya Stafford and Ashley Sharkus were moved to the number two match, Ireland Hieb and Catalina Rochaix were switched to the number three, and Collins and Wilcox competed in the number four.

Collins and Wilcox continued their strong play into the second match as they pushed the Skyhawks to a tough first set but fell short by a score of 21-18.

MATCH TWO RESULTS
1. Scanlon, Karen/Mott, Dylan (UTM) def. Elisavet Papageorgiou/Christina Martinez Mundo (EIU) 21-12, 21-16
2. Phillips, Hannah/Lucas, Kambree (UTM) def. TaKenya Stafford/Ashley Sharkus (EIU) 21-14, 21-14
3. Wallick, Logan/Panlino, Haleigh (UTM) def. Catalina Rochaix/Ireland Hieb (EIU) 21-9, 21-10
4. Carrell, Kayla/Conley, Addison (UTM) def. Ella Collins/Emily Wilcox (EIU) 21-18, 21-9
5. Kuball, Brooke/Vaughn, Addy (UTM) def. Kaitlyn Flynn/Anna Moster (EIU) 21-13, 21-10

EIU continues to build a strong foundation during their inaugural season of beach volleyball from first year players. The team looks to build on their success heading into the rest of the weekend.

The Panthers will be back in action tomorrow as they look to pick up their first OVC win in school history against Chattanooga at 11:00 a.m. or Morehead State at 3:00 p.m. Livestats will br provided for the matches.