CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team earned their second consecutive conference win with a convincing 3-1 victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday evening in front of an electric home crowd inside Groniger Arena. The final set scores were as follows: 25-22, 11-25, 25-18, 25-18.

Eastern fell behind by as many as six points in the opening set, but flipped the script halfway through the frame and went on an 11-3 run to take a late three-point lead. Tennessee Tech cut the lead back down to one, but EIU finished strong scoring four of the last six points to secure the set. The Eastern attack was led by a trio of players with three kills, including Destiny Walker, Katie Kopshever, and Lilli Amettis.

The Golden Eagles came out strong in the second set and scored five points before the Panthers could get on the board. TTU continued to build on their lead throughout the set as Eastern struggled to find a rhythm, and ultimately evened the match at one set apiece. Walker led the Panthers with another three kills in the frame.

Set three was tight in the early going, featuring three lead changes and nine tied scores. However, after Tech evened things at eleven apiece, EIU ripped off an 8-2 run to give themselves a comfortable six-point advantage. The Panthers would keep the Golden Eagles at arm's length for the remainder of the frame on the way to taking a 2-1 match lead. Walker continued to lead the EIU attack with six more kills.

Eastern came out on a mission and the fourth set and cracked open a 7-0 lead right out of the gates. Tech refused to go down without a fight, however, and clawed their way back to within one point before the Panthers regrouped for a 5-1 lead that placed them firmly back in the driver's seat. EIU was then able to stave off any TTU rallies to win the set and secure their second straight conference win.

Destiny Walker headlined the EIU offense for the second time this week, this time posting a team-high 16 kills. She was followed by Lilli Amettis and Matilda Dahlström with seven kills apiece, and Kaitlyn Flynn with six terminations.

Catalina Rochaix handed out 22 assists to lead the Panthers, while Laura Paniaugua anchored the defense with 15 digs.

Julia Stanev led EIU in blocks with five total, including two solo rejections.

The Panthers and Golden Eagles will be back at it on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Groniger Arena.