PEORIA, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (3-3, 0-0 OVC) suffered a pair of setbacks against South Dakota State (7-0, 0-0 Summit) and Bradley (2-5, 0-0 MVC) in Peoria on Friday. The Panthers fell 3-0 against the Jackrabbits before dropping a tight 3-2 battle against the Braves.

Eastern Illinois 0, South Dakota State 3

In the day's opening set, Eastern Illinois took an early 7-3 lead, but after a South Dakota State timeout the Jackrabbits scored five unanswered points to move ahead. The Panthers would briefly regain a 11-10 advantage, but SDSU scored 15 of the next 19 points to take the set. Katie Kopshever and Emma Schroeder led EIU with three kills apiece in the frame.

Set two was tight early on, but an 11-1 Jackrabbits run gave SDSU as comfortable advantage that they were able to retain on the way to a 2-0 match lead. Karli Mann led the Panthers with three kills in the set.

The Panthers refused to go down quietly and controlled most of the third set. However, after EIU took a 15-10 lead, SDSU slowly chipped away at the deficit to eventually pull ahead 21-20. The Jackrabbits outscored Eastern 4-3 down the stretch to take a slim 25-23 set win and take the match. Destiny Walker fronted the EIU attack with five kills in the set.

Walker was Eastern's match leader in kills with a total of six while also adding a block to her scoring output.

Meanwhile, Ireland Hieb matched Walker's point total of 6.5 with four kills and four blocks on the afternoon.

Kaitlyn Flynn and Karli Mann also made contributions with five kills apiece.

Sylvia Hasz led the Panthers with 19 assists, while Laura Paniagua recorded a team-high 12 digs.

Eastern Illinois 2, Bradley 3

In their second match of the day, EIU fell behind 6-1 early in the first set and were never able to make up the difference. After trailing by as many as nine, the Panthers cut the Braves' lead to two late, but could not complete the rally in a 25-22 loss. Kaitlyn Flynn led the EIU attack with three kills in the set.

Bradley got off to another fast start in the second set and were able to keep Eastern at arm's length throughout the frame on their way to taking the set and the 2-0 match lead. Destiny Walker led the Panthers in kills with three in the set

EIU bounced back with a convincing 25-15 win in set three. The Panthers led for the entire frame as Destiny Walker kept things going with five more kills while Sylvia Hasz handed out 10 assists.

Eastern would carry their newfound momentum into the fourth set. After Bradley took an early lead, the Panthers went in front 8-7 and never surrendered their advantage, leading by as many as five points on their way to evening the match at two sets apiece. The EIU attack was fronted by Flynn and Walker who both posted five kills in the frame.

The comeback bid would fall short, however, as Bradley regrouped for a 15-9 win in the deciding fifth set.

Destiny Walker posted a team-high 15 kills in the match. She was followed by Kaitlyn Flynn with 12 kills.

Sylvia Hasz recorded 35 assists while adding 13 digs and a pair of blocks on the defensive side of the net.

Two other Panthers posted double-digit digs, including Julia Udell with a team-high 16 and Ariadna Pereles with 11.

Emma Schroeder had a strong performance at the net with five blocks. She was followed by Ireland Hieb with four rejections.

Eastern will close out the weekend with another match against Bradley on Saturday evening. The action is set to get underway at 6 p.m.