MARTIN, Tenn. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team closed out their first week of Ohio Valley Conference play with another win, this time defeating UT Martin by a score of 3-1. The victory brings Eastern's OVC record to 3-0 and their overall record to 13-1. The final set scores of this afternoon's match were as follows: 23-25, 25-12, 25-21, and 25-17.
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the first set, but the Skyhawks clawed their way back and eventually overtook EIU before holding them off to win the set. Giovana Larregui López led the offense with five kills in the set.
In set two, EIU bounced back in a big way, opening the set with a 7-1 run and then expanding their lead to 13 points as they evened up the match.
Natalie Mitchem had a huge set with seven kills, while
Catalina Rochaix handed out 11 assists.
The Panthers kept things rolling in set three and built up an 18-10 lead before the Skyhawks punched back with a 6-0 run to close the gap. However, it was not enough, as Eastern regained control and won the set to take a 2-0 lead. This time it was
Kaitlyn Flynn's turn to lead the EIU attack, as the junior racked up five kills.
The Panthers finished things off in the fourth set, gaining an early lead and then closing the set out on a 5-1 run to move to a perfect 3-0 in conference play and a fantastic 13-1 overall. EIU was aided by five kills from Larregui López and three each from Flynn and freshman
Layne Witherspoon.
Larregui López led the match in kills, collecting a total of 15. In addition, she tallied 15 digs to record her fourth straight double-double. In the Panthers' three matches this week, the senior stacked up 51 kills (4.25 KPS) on a .369 hitting percentage while also recording 40 digs (3.33 DPS). She also had six blocks and six service aces.
Larregui López was closely followed by
Natalie Mitchem and
Kaitlyn Flynn who both had 13 kills in the match. Mitchem finished with an outstanding .520 hitting percentage, her highest of the season. It was Flynn's third consecutive game with at least 13 kills.
Freshman
Layne Witherspoon stepped up big for the Panthers, recording eight kills and three blocks in the match. Both numbers were season highs.
Catalina Rochaix eclipsed 40 assists for the fifth time this season, and she collected 45 on the afternoon for an average of 11.25 assists per set.
Christina Martinez Mundo had a fantastic performance at the libero position. The senior finished the match with a season-high 34 digs with an average of 8.5 digs per set. She also got the job done offensively, recording five assists with a setting percentage of .700.
Next up for EIU is a week-night match at Southern Indiana. The contest is set for Tuesday, September 26th at 6 p.m. The Panthers will then have next weekend off before returning to action at home against Morehead State on October 5th.
