EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (7-15, 3-9 OVC) picked up a key conference win with a 3-1 victory over SIUE (8-13, 3-7 OVC) on Tuesday evening. After dropping the opening set, the Panthers won the next three to secure the match. The final set scores were as follows: 17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21.

The Cougars came out strong in the opening set and grabbed a quick 6-1 lead to begin the match. SIUE ballooned their lead to as many as eight before Eastern put together a 4-0 burst to cut the deficit in half. However, following a timeout, SIUE closed out the frame on a 6-2 run to take the set. Kaitlyn Flynn led the Panthers attack with six kills.

EIU fell behind 6-3 early in the second set before using another 4-0 run to grab their first lead of the match. SIUE jumped back in front briefly, but the Panthers strung together a 14-4 run in response to build a commanding eight-point advantage. The Cougars were unable to rally back as Eastern tied the match at one set apiece. Destiny Walker had big set with seven kills.

The Panthers carried their momentum into the third set to build an early 11-5 lead before SIUE responded with a 7-1 run to tie the score at 12 apiece. However, Eastern immediately regained their lead and protected it for the remainder of the set to go ahead 2-1 in the match. Walker kept things rolling with seven more kills to pace the Panthers offense.

EIU never trailed in the fourth set as Destiny Walker added another six kills to lead the Panthers to their first road conference win of the season.

Walker finished the match with 23 kills, which is a new career-high for the freshman. It topped her previous high of 20 kills also recorded against SIUE two weeks ago.

Two other Panthers posted double-digit kills, including Kaitlyn Flynn (15) and Matilda Dahlström (11).

Flynn also added two service aces, three blocks, and nine digs to her stat line, while Dahlström recorded one ace and two blocks. 

Catalina Rochaix handed out 43 assists (10.75 APS) to help EIU to a team hitting percentage of .291.

Laura Paniagua and Destiny Walker both recorded 10 digs to lead Eastern defensively.

The Panthers will have this weekend off before returning to Groniger Arena next weekend to face Little Rock. Match one is set for Friday, November 8th at 6 p.m.