BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (4-5, 0-0 OVC) split their two matches on day one of the Alyssa Cavanaugh WKU Tournament on Friday. The Panthers opened things up with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Austin Peay (1-9, 0-0 ASun) before dropping the nightcap against the host Western Kentucky (6-6, 0-0 C-USA).

Eastern Illinois 3, Austin Peay 2

EIU controlled most of the opening set and found themselves with a late 21-14 lead before a 9-1 Austin Peay run put the Governors in front 23-22. However, the Panthers refused to be denied and scored four of the final five points to take a 26-24 set win. Tori Mohesky led the Eastern attack with five kills in the frame while Lilli Amettis posted four kills and a team-leading five digs.

Peay responded in set two, leading for nearly the entire frame as EIU struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm. However, the Panthers rediscovered their groove in the third set, leading by as many as 12 points on their way to a dominant 25-15 win. Kaitlyn Flynn led the way with five kills in the set.

The Governors came right back in set four with a 25-19 win to even the match at two sets apiece. Lilli Amettis was the Panthers' leading scorer in the set with four kills.

In the deciding set, EIU left no room for doubt as they rolled to a 15-7 victory to get back into the win column. Kaitlyn Flynn led the way with three kills in the set.

Lilli Amettis led the Eastern attack with 12 kills. She also added three blocks and a service ace to go along with five digs.

She was followed by Kailtlyn Flynn with eleven kills and a service ace.

Ireland Hieb and Julia Stanev also enjoyed three-block outings as the Panthers combined for 9.0 team blocks.

Meanwhile, two panthers recorded double-digit digs, including Laura Paniagua with 14 and Destiny Walker with 10. 

Eastern Illinois 0, Western Kentucky 3

Set one against the Hilltoppers was tight early on, but after Julia Stanev and Kaitlyn Flynn combined for a block to tie the score at 6-6, WKU scored seven unanswered as part of a 10-1 run to put the set out of reach.

The Hilltoppers carried their momentum over to the second set and jumped out to a big lead early on that proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome. Eastern came out strong in the third set to gain an early 4-3 lead, but WKU responded with another big scoring run on their way to taking the set and match.

Lilli Amettis posted a team-high in kills for the second consecutive match with a total of seven.

The Panthers will be back in action on Saturday against Arkansas State. The match is set to begin at 11 a.m.