CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (8-16, 4-10 OVC) dropped their Saturday OVC contest against Little Rock (16-13, 11-5 OVC) by a score of 0-3. Prior to the match, Laura Paniagua, Paige Gardella, Kaitlyn Flynn, and Ireland Hieb were recognized in celebration of Senior Day.

Little Rock came out on fire in the opening set and opened up a quick 7-1 lead. The Panthers were unable to recover, as the Trojans ballooned their lead to as many as 14 on their way to a 25-11 set win. Lilli Amettis led EIU with three kills on five attempts in the set.

Eastern regrouped for set two and got out to an early three-point lead before a 6-0 run by Little Rock gave the Trojans a three-point advantage of their own. The Panthers clawed their way back to tie the score, but were unable to overtake Little Rock, who won the set 25-22 and took a 2-0 lead in the match. Destiny Walker and Lilli Amettis posted four kills apiece to lead Eastern in the frame.

The Panthers kept battling in set three and found themselves with a comfortable 10-5 lead early on. However, following a timeout, Little Rock put together a 9-4 run to tie the score up at 14 apiece. EIU responded and put themselves on the brink of extending the match with a 23-20 lead. Unfortunately, the Trojans had other plans and scored the final five points to take the set and match.

Lilli Amettis led EIU offensively in the match with 11 kills and two blocks for a points total of 12.0.

Meanwhile, Julia Stanev put together a strong showing at the net with five blocks, including one solo effort, for an average of 1.67 blocks per set.

The Panthers will make their final road trip of the regular season next week when they travel to Morehead State for another two-game series. Match one is scheduled for Thursday, November 14th at 5 p.m., followed by match two on Friday the 15th at 4 p.m.