After a tough week at Southern Indiana, the Panthers start their busy three-match week with a 3-1 victory over Western Illinois. EIU moves to 9-6 (3-2 OVC), while the Leathernecks drop to 5-15 (2-5 OVC).
Set One: EIU struggled to start the match, trailing 4-0 right off the bat. The set would tighten up halfway through with the score 15-15 after kills from Destiny Walker, Tori Mohesky, and Katie Kopshever. As the set continued, both teams were unable to find separation, with the score still tied late in the match at 20 apiece. The back-and-forth action continued with a Kopshever kill to knot things back up at 22. With the setup for grabs, Western Illinois took advantage, with the OVC offensive player of the week, Keyana Cruse, scoring the last point, closing it out 25-23.
Set Two: Panthers looking for a victory, led set two the whole way. Anaya Rawlinson, Kopshever, Mohesky, and Walker started hot, with each contributing offensively. EIU would extend their lead to 15-11 after a kill from Catalina Rochaix, forcing a WIU timeout. The Panthers remained hot, cushioning their lead late, 19-14, which led to another Leatherneck timeout. After the break in the action, Eastern Illinois let their foot off the gas with Western Illinois closing in but still trailing 22-19. Head Coach Ryan Millar, needing to stop the shift in momentum, would call an EIU timeout. The discussion in the huddle was successful as EIU held on to win set two 25-21.
Set Three: With the match tied up 1-1, EIU put their foot on the gas and dominated the entire third set. The Panthers held an early lead of 10-4 after a fast start by Emma Schroeder, Kopshever, Walker, and Mohesky. After the early WIU timeout, Eastern Illinois continued to pour on the scoring, extending their lead to 17-9. Unable to keep up, the Leathernecks used multiple timeouts to stop the bleeding. WIU would score the next three out of five points, but a service ace by Giorgia Cappelletti would restart the fast break, which led to EIU closing set three out 25-15.
Set Four: After a dominant set three performance, EIU would struggle early on in their close-out set. Eastern Illinois trailed 17-12 after the Leathernecks used a 4-0 and 5-0 scoring run to cushion their lead. Coach Millar called a timeout to deliberate with his team to turn the ship around. After the break in the action, EIU charged a comeback with a 9-0 scoring run and a successful challenge to take their first lead of the set, 23-20. The complete turnaround was fueled by two service aces by Tori Mohesky and multiple kills from Kopshever and Walker. The Panthers would hold on, winning 25-22, ending the match with a 3-1 victory.
By The Numbers: Catalina Rochaix led the game with 56 assists, which enabled her to surpass the 3,000 career assists mark. Destiny Walker had another stellar performance with 23 kills, and Katie Kopshever continued her impressive play with 16 kills and 9 digs. Ariadna Pereles had a game-high 28 digs. Another game high, Emma Schroeder recorded 4 blocks. Tori Mohesky recorded 3 service aces.
As a team, EIU totaled 70 kills, 65 assists, 4 service aces, 68 digs, 8 blocks, and a .353 hitting percentage.
EIU will be back in action this weekend at home vs. SEMO.
