The Panthers took the first set behind seven kills from All-Conference outside hitter Giovana Larregui López, including three straight mid-way through the set. In the second set, four different Panthers contributed service aces while
Julia Stanev led the scoring with four kills and a block assist, as the Panthers rolled to a 2-0 lead.
Eastern closed things out in the third set with last week's OVC Offensive Player of the Week
Natalie Mitchem catching fire for seven kills.
Offensively, the Panthers were led by Giovana Larregui López with 12 kills. She was followed by
Natalie Mitchem with nine kills, and
Kaitlyn Flynn and
Kate Dean, who recorded eight kills each. Dean led the team with a .400 hitting percentage.
Catalina Rochaix kept things rolling at the setter spot, collecting 42 assists as EIU finished the match with a .269 team hitting percentage.
On defense, the Golden Eagles has a tough time getting anything past
Christina Martinez Mundo, who led the game with 17 digs, good enough for 5.66 digs per set. Larregui López added eight digs of her own, while
Julia Stanev recorded three blocks.
Game 2 vs. UC Riverside
The Panthers defeated the Highlanders 3-0. The final set scores were as follows: 25-9, 27-25, 25-10.
EIU dominated the first set, which included two separate 9-0 runs by the Panthers. Giovana Larregui López stayed hot, leading the offense in scoring with four kills and two service aces. All-OVC hitter
Kaitlyn Flynn also added four kills in the set on a .500 hitting percentage. The Panthers' defense was suffocating, with
Catalina Rochaix and
Kate Dean teaming up to block three Highlander attacks.
The Highlanders didn't lay down, however, and the Panthers were forced to deny a UC Riverside set point in the second set before earning a hard fought 2-0 lead. The third set was tight early, but Eastern closed out the set on a 12-1 run to take the match and complete their second shutout win of the day.
10 different players recorded kills for the Panthers, once again led by Giovana Larregui López, who finished the match with 13 kills on a fantastic .667 hitting percentage.
Catalina Rochaix continued to be EIU's leading passer with 24 assists, as the Panthers finished with a .372 team hitting percentage.
Christina Martinez Mundo continued to lock things down on defense with a match high 21 digs (7.0 DPS). The Panthers recorded nine total blocks as a team, with
Natalie Mitchem,
Kate Dean, and Rochaix each contributing four block assists.
The Panthers will have the rest of Friday off before returning to action tomorrow at noon against IUPUI.
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