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ON TAP: The Eastern Illinois volleyball team will continue their non-conference slate this weekend as they head south to Carbondale for the Southern Illinois Saluki Bash. The Panthers are scheduled for a pair of matches on Friday, September 8th, with the first being against Arkansas State at noon, followed by a tangle with Alabama A&M at 4 p.m. EIU will then take on Southern Illinois in the tournament finale at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Â
SERIES HISTORY: EIU is 3-2 all-time against Arkansas State, but the programs have not met on the volleyball court since 1991. The Panthers' second match on Friday will be their first ever meeting with Alabama A&M. EIU is 4-14 all-time against SIU, who despite geographic proximity, have not been a regular opponent as of late. Their last clash was a 3-1 Panthers win in 2004. Â
SCOUTING REPORT:Â
- Arkansas State enters the Saluki Bash with a strong 5-1 record. Of their five wins, four have been 3-0 sweeps. At the helm for the Red Wolves is second year head coach Brian Gerwig. Their offensive attack is led by sophomore Bailey Helzer with 70 kills (3.33 KPS), while freshman Erin Madigan has been the primary passer with 222 assists (10.57 APS). On defense, Sarah Martinez leads the way with 93 digs (4.43 DPS).Â
- Alabama A&M enters this weekend with a 1-5 record. Head coach Rose Magers-Powell is in her 10th season leading the Bulldogs program. Junior Ajanae Cressey has been a force at the net, collecting 18 blocks (0.90 BPS) through the first two weeks of the season, including eight in Alabama A&M's 3-2 win over North Carolina Central. The Bulldogs' leading scorer is Bailey Duckett with 51.0 points, which includes a team-leading 43 kills. Â
- Southern Illinois currently sits at 4-1 with a Wednesday night affair against Lindenwood to go before opening up their home tournament Friday morning. Head coach Ed Allen is in his fifth season with the program. The Salukis are led by senior outside hitter Nataly Garcia, who currently holds team-highs in kills (66) and digs (58). Setters Ema Stermenska (112 assists) and Anna Jaworski (102 assists) do a great job of spreading the wealth, as five Salukis have 35 or more kills. Â
WEEKEND RECAP: EIU took home their second tournament title of the season after going a perfect 3-0 in the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invite in Indianapolis. The Panthers only dropped a single set the entire weekend, as they swept both Oral Roberts and UC Riverside on Friday before defeating IUPUI 3-1 on Saturday to secure the tournament trophy. Giovana Larregui López was named Tournament MVP, while
Christina Martinez Mundo (46 digs, 4.60 DPS) and
Kate Dean (20 kills, .372 PCT, six blocks) were selected to the All-Tournament Team.Â
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: In addition to her MVP award, Larregui López was also voted the OVC's Offensive Player of the Week. This past weekend, she led the Panthers with 33 kills on a very efficient .353 hitting percentage. She also added 14 service aces to her fantastic offensive effort, with half of those coming against IUPUI. Â
CAREER MILESTONE: Sophomore setter
Catalina Rochaix surpassed 1,000 career assists over the weekend. She recorded 97 assists (9.70 APS) over Eastern's three matches to bring her career total to 1,005. Â
OVC LEADERS: Through two weeks of competition, four different Panthers lead the Ohio Valley Conference in five different statistical categories. Giovana Larregui López leads the conference in service aces (17) and points per set (4.70), while
Natalie Mitchem has the highest hitting percentage at .411.
Catalina Rochaix leads in assists with 236, and
Julia Stanev's 23 blocks place her atop the league as well. Â
MAKING HISTORY: The Panthers are off to a historic start this season. Their 6-0 mark is the best recorded without a loss in the program's nearly 50-year history, with the prior best start being 4-0. Meanwhile, their 17 service aces versus IUPUI tied the school record for aces in a match. Â
NEXT UP: EIU will return home to Lantz Arena to take on the SEC's Missouri Tigers in a pair of matches at the end of next week. The first contest is scheduled for Thursday, September 14th at 6 p.m., followed by match two on Friday at 4 p.m. The Panthers will then open up conference play with a home match against Southern Indiana at 6 p.m. on Monday, September 18th. Â
HEAD COACH: Sara Thomas is in her fourth season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois. Last season, Thomas led the Panthers to their second consecutive OVC Tournament appearance. Their 16-16 record was the program's best since 2015, and their 10-8 OVC mark was the first winning conference record since the same year. The Panthers are looking to take the next step this season and challenge for the OVC crown. Â
