PEORIA, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois Volleyball team (3-4, 0-0 OVC) dropped their match against Bradley (3-6, 0-0 MVC) in Peoria on Saturday night. Strong showings from Tori Mohesky and Karli Mann led the Panthers in another five-set battle. The final set scores were 17-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-17, and 12-15.

The Panthers took an early 2-1 lead in the opening set, but an 11-1 Bradley run gave the Braves an advantage that proved too much to overcome for EIU as they fell behind 1-0. Freshman Karli Mann led the Eastern attack in the frame with four kills.

EIU came out strong in set two to gain a 3-0 advantage, but the Braves answered back by scoring 11 of the next 15 points to open up an 11-7 lead.  The Panthers clawed their way back, and after tying the game on a few separate occasions, eventually overtook Bradley 18-17 before sprinting to a 25-20 set win. Sylvia Hasz dished out 13 assists in the set as Tori Mohesky posted five kills.

Bradley responded in the third set as they jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead. The Panthers closed the gap to two, but were unable to come any closer as the Braves held off Eastern to take a 2-1 match lead. Matilda Dahlström had a big set offensively with five kills.

EIU punched right back with a dominant performance in the fourth set which they led by as many as 12 points on their way to evening the match at two sets each. Tori Mohesky led EIU with four kills in the set to add to her strong performance.

In the deciding fifth frame, Eastern got out to an early lead, but following six ties, Bradley ended the set on a 15-12 run to win the set and match.

Tori Mohesky and Karli Mann led the Panthers attack with 15 kills apiece. Mohesky also added three service aces and a block to her scoring efforts while Mann posted three blocks.

Matilda Dahlström also had a strong showing with 12 kills and four blocks.

Meanwhile, Sylvia Hasz posted her second consecutive double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs.

Julia Stanev a force at the net for the panthers with a match high seven blocks.

The Panthers will return to action next weekend at the Alyssa Cavanaugh WKU Tournament in Bowling Green, Kentucky. EIU will face off with Austin Peay, Western Kentucky, and Arkansas State over the two-day event. Play is set to get underway at 1 p.m. on Friday, September 20th.