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CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team lost a heartbreaker in Lantz Arena on Saturday, falling to Southeast Missouri State by a score of 3-2 (24-26, 24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 8-15). The Panthers clawed out of a 2-0 hole to force a fifth set but ran out of gas at the end as the comeback fell short. Eastern is now 20-3 overall with a 10-2 record in the OVC.

The Panthers dropped both of the first two sets by a slim two-point margin.

EIU appeared to have won the opening set, but a challenge by SEMO head coach Julie Yankus overturned the Panthers' set point. The call shifted momentum and the Redhawks closed the set out on a 3-0 run. Despite the loss, Giovana Larregui López had a strong opening frame with seven kills and seven digs.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 17 ties and six lead changes, but SEMO again found a way to outlast the Panthers and took a 2-0 advantage. Larregui López kept things rolling with six kills and three service aces in the set, and the Panthers combined for 3.0 team blocks.

Eastern refused to go down quietly in the third as they used an 8-2 run early on to grab a commanding lead and never let go. Kaitlyn Flynn came on strong to lead the EIU attack with seven kills while Catalina Rochaix had a huge set with 17 assists to help the Panthers to a team hitting percentage of .341.

The fourth set was closely contested most of the way through, but EIU closed out the frame with an emphatic 5-1 run to force extra play. Kate Dean had five kills in the set to lead Eastern.

Unfortunately, the comeback bid fell short as SEMO regrouped to take set five, with the Redhawks scoring six unanswered points in the second half to help lift themselves to victory.

Regardless of the result, Giovana Larregui López had herself an outstanding match, as she recorded her fifth consecutive double-double with 23 kills (4.6 KPS) and 22 digs (4.4 DPS). It was the first match of her career with 20-plus kills and digs. She also recorded a match-high .379 hitting percentage and four service aces.

Three other Panthers were in double digit kills, led by Natalie Mitchem who put down 16 on a .341 hitting percentage. She was followed by Kaitlyn Flynn (13) and Kate Dean (12).

Dean also had four blocks on the evening, which matched Julia Stanev and two Redhawks for the match high.

Catalina Rochaix had another strong outing with 58 assists for an average of 10.8 assists per set. Defensively, she contributed three blocks and five digs.

Christina Martinez Mundo anchored the Panthers defense with 30 digs for an average of 6.0 digs per set. Masyn Navarro and Laura Paniagua were also in double-digit digs with 15 and 10, respectively.

Eastern will be on the road next weekend as they head to Little Rock to take on the Trojans in two more OVC matchups. The first match is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, November 3rd, followed by the second meeting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 4th.