Volleyball Continues Conference Play At SEMO

The Panthers picked up a pair of OVC wins last week

10/22/2024 11:36:00 AM

Eastern Illinois (6-13, 2-7 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (9-10, 6-1 OVC)
Cape Girardeau, Mo. | Houck Field House

Match 1: Thursday, Oct. 24th at 6 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats
Match 2: Friday, Oct. 25th at 5 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats

ON TAP: After a three-match homestand last week, the Eastern Illinois volleyball team will return to the road this week for a pair of conferences clashes at Southeast Missouri.

SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are 22-45 all-time against the Redhawks. The two teams previously met in last season's OVC Championship match, with EIU taking a 3-0 win in Charleston to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI:

SEMO enters this week with an overall record of 9-10, but a 6-1 mark in the OVC. They are second in the conference after beating Morehead State twice last week.
The attack is led by Lucy Arndt (219 kills) and Abby Johnson (210 kills). Arndt is top 10 in the OVC in kills points per set and total points (257). Meanwhile, Ramiri Gardener leads the conference in hitting percentage (.366).
The Redhawk offense is set up by Megan Holder with a team leading 398 assists. Her 5.77 assists per set is the sixth best mark in the OVC.
Defensively, SEMO is led by Nina Schuberth with 220 digs and Alaina Lester with 84 blocks. Lest has the second-best blocks per set average in the conference (1.14).
The Redhawks are led by 14th year head coach Julie Yankus.

EASTERN ILLINOIS:

The Eastern attack is led by Kaitlyn Flynn with 167 kills (2.78 KPS). She is followed by Lilli Amettis with 116 terminations (2.00 KPS).
Two EIU freshman have over 100 kills on the season, including Katie Kopshever (108) and Destiny Walker (105).
Three Panthers have triple-digit assists, including Sylvia Hasz (323), Catalina Rochaix (201), and Paige Gardella (121).
The Eastern defense is led by Laura Paniagua with 185 digs, and Ireland Hieb with 58.0 blocks.

WEEK IN REVIEW: EIU picked up a big 3-1 conference win over SIUE last Tuesday inside Groniger Arena. Destiny Walker headlined the Eastern Illinois offense with a season-high 20 kills while adding 12 digs for a double-double.

The Panthers kept things rolling on Friday with a 3-1 victory over Tennessee Tech. Walker led the Eastern offense once again with 16 kills while Catalina Rochaix handed out 27 assists.

Eastern fell 0-3 in Saturday's rematch with the Golden Eagles. Matilda Dahlström had a strong outing with 12 kills, three blocks, and a service ace.

Julia Stanev posted five blocks in each of the Panthers' three matches last week, including a pair of solo blocks in both matches against TTU.

CONFERENCE LEADERS: Matilda Dahlström's 0.44 service aces per set is second best in the OVC.

Ireland Hieb is third in the OVC in blocks per set with an average of 1.12.

Kaitlyn Flynn in seventh in the conference with an average of 3.56 points per set and 3.02 kills per set.

Sylvia Hasz is averaging 5.38 assists per set, which is eighth most in the conference.

HEAD COACH: Sara Thomas enters her fifth season as head coach at Eastern Illinois. In 2023, Thomas was named the OVC's Coach of the Year after guiding Eastern to their first OVC regular season title since 2004, and their first outright since 1998, as the Panthers posted their highest win total in over four decades. EIU also won the OVC Tournament to claim their first NCAA Tournament bid since the 2001 season. She holds a career record of 57-53 with the Panthers.

NEXT UP: The Panthers will travel to SIUE on Tuesday, October 29th to complete the second half of their home-and-home against the Cougars. They will have next weekend off before returning to Groniger Arena November 8th and 9th to face Little Rock.

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