Tweet #LOYALandTRUE   |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (5-6, 0-0 OVC) volleyball drops a tough 3-0 loss to the No. 25 team in the country, Illinois (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten) who came to Charleston for the first time since 1995. The Panthers forced the Fighting Illini into 21 turnovers tonight including eight in the second and seven in the third set. The scores were: 15-25, 23-25, 22-25.

EIU started off to a slow start tonight on offense while hitting -.074 in the first set with five kills compared to Illinois' 12. For the fourth straight match in a row, Kaitlyn Flynn led the club in kills with nine on 33 attempts. Ella Collins posted six kills on a .136 hitting percentage which were both second on the team.

Ireland Hieb, Annika Black and Tori Mohesky all chipped in with three kills. Hieb and Black were especially dominate on defense with Hieb collecting eight blocks and Black collected five. The duo combined for four blocks in the second set alone. EIU closed the gap in the second set against Illinois and were up 20-15, but failed to close out the set win.

Christina Martinez Mundo was all over First Mid court tonight as she made many diving saves to keep the offense alive for EIU. As the libero, Martinez Mundo posted 17 digs while also posting only one reception error on 19 attempts. She helped lead a comeback in the third set when EIU was down 17-10.

Flynn helped on defense with seven digs while Catalina Rochaix and Summerlyn Smith both posted six digs from their setter position. Rochaix was able to led the team in assists with 13 while Smith added seven off the bench. Three Panthers had a service ace in the loss: Martinez Mundo, Rochaix and Flynn.

Eastern was only able to create 26 kills on the night in three sets while Illinois posted 41 on a .174 hitting percentage which was below their average of .240. Illinois also took advantage at the service line with eight acs including four from Jessica Nunge. The Fighting Illini also posted 22 total blocks.

Illinois was led by Nunge with 14 kills while Raina Terry, Kennedy Collins and Kayla Burbage posted eight apiece. Burbage and Kyla Swanson also posted six block assists each. Collins and Terry also had four blocks. Diana Brown led all setters with 37 assists out of 41 kills. Libero Caroline Barnes also had a team high 21 digs to lead Illinois to their fifth win of the season.

EIU moves to 0-13 all-time against ranked opponents and 0-3 at home vs. ranked teams.

Eastern Illinois also broke the attendance record for a volleyball match with 2,075 fans in attendance.

The Panthers will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 16 at the Toledo Challenge where they will face-off against the Rockets of Toledo and Duquesne. Matches start on Friday at 5 p.m. on ESPN3. Livestats will also be provided.