EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team dropped their second meeting with SIUE on Saturday afternoon by a score of 3-2 (25-23, 25-14, 23-25, 22-25, 16-18). It was the Panthers' first road loss suffered this season and leaves them with an overall record of 23-4 and OVC record of 13-3.
The opening set was tight throughout, with both teams trading scoring runs early on before settling into a deadlock that featured eight tied scores through the second half of the frame. However, Eastern was able to outscore SIUE 5-3 to close out the set.
Natalie Mitchem put down seven kills in the set to lead the Panthers. EIU had four aces in the set, including two off the serve of
Kate Dean.
The Panthers controlled the second set most of the way through. They jumped out to a 10-4 lead before a brief SIUE run closed the gap to two points, but Eastern responded by outscoring the Cougars 15-6 the rest of the way to take a 2-0 match lead. It was a shared offensive effort in the set, with no player eclipsing more than four kills, led by
Julia Stanev. The Panthers again had four service aces, with
Catalina Rochaix contributing a pair.
EIU struggled to carry over their momentum in set three, as they fell behind early and were forced to play catch up for most of the way. Trailing 23-17 late, the Panthers mounted a furious rally to bring the set within one point, but the effort fell just short as SIUE was able to hold on to force a fourth set. Giovana Larregui López led the Eastern attack with six kills, while
Kaitlyn Flynn and
Natalie Mitchem both contributed five.
EIU came out firing in set four, as they built up an 7-2 advantage early on. However, SIUE punched back with a 9-2 scoring run to take the lead. The rest of the frame was a stalemate, with neither team gaining control until the Cougars scored three straight points to close out the set and extend the match. Larregui López led the way again, this time with five kills.
SIUE rode their momentum to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set, but Eastern refused to go down quietly, closing the gap and eventually fighting off two Cougar match-points on their way to a 16-15 lead. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as SIUE scored the final three points out of a timeout to complete the comeback win.
Despite the loss, Giovana Larregui López had a massive showing with 25 kills (5.0 KPS) on an efficient .312 hitting percentage. She also contributed defensively with nine digs.
Three other Panthers had double-digit kills, including
Natalie Mitchem with 18,
Kaitlyn Flynn with 16, and
Kate Dean with 11. All three finished with a hitting percentage north of .300, with Dean recording .409 percentage.
Meanwhile,
Catalina Rochaix recorded a new career-high with 64 assists for an average if 12.8 assists, as she helped Eastern to a team hitting percentage of .312.
Christina Martinez Mundo posted a match-high 25 digs as she continued to lead the Panthers on defense.
EIU will close out the regular season next week as they host Western Illinois at Lantz Arena. The first matchup is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15th at 6 p.m., and will be followed by match two on Thursday the 16th at 4 p.m.Â
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