Game One:

Eastern Illinois 14-6 (8-2 OVC) vs. UT Martin 2-19 (1-9 OVC)

Date & Time: October 30th at 6:00 p.m.

Live Coverage: ESPN+ | Live Stats

All Time Series: 34-24

 

Game Two: 

Eastern Illinois 14-6 (8-2 OVC) vs. UT Martin 2-19 (1-9 OVC)

Date & Time: October 31st at 4:00 p.m.

Live Coverage: ESPN+ | Live Stats 

All Time Series: 34-24

 

The Panthers will look to defend their six-game winning streak this weekend against UT Martin. On Thursday, the Panthers will host Greek Life Night, and they will celebrate Halloween on Friday with costume night. 

 

Looking Back: EIU continues to roll through their schedule after beating Western Illinois and Little Rock. On Tuesday, the Panthers beat the Leathernecks 3-1, including a set four comeback after trailing 17-12. Late in the week, EIU traveled to Little Rock for two key OVC matches with standings implications. The Panthers faced no trouble on Friday, sweeping the match with Katie Kopshever leading the way. On Saturday, Eastern Illinois survived a 5-set match thriller. Trailing 2-1 in the match and down 15-5, the Panthers mounted an impressive comeback, rallying to win sets four and five. Ariadna Pereles led the way defensively, totaling 78 digs (6.5 per set). As a result of her performances, Pereles was awarded her second OVC defensive player of the week. 

 

About the Panthers: Eastern Illinois sits in second place in the OVC with an 8-2 record. The Panthers trail Morehead State, who has a 10-0 conference record. EIU will face two bottom-of-the-conference teams in UT Martin and Tennessee State before facing Morehead State. With the high level of success, EIU continues to rank at the top of the conference and the nation in statistical categories. The Panthers rank 6th in the country for digs per set with 17.32 and 6th in the country for team attacks per set with 38.24. Along with being a nation leader, the Panthers rank at the top of the conference in multiple categories. For starters, EIU leads the way in assists per set with 12.61. Rochaix is the anchor of the play making with 10.82 assists per set. Eastern Illinois ranks second in the OVC for hitting percentage with .214 and kills per set with 13.46. Defensively, EIU has held strong, fueled by Ariadna Pereles. She leads the way with 5.33 digs per set. Along with Pereles, Emma Schroeder has continued to dominate defensively. Schroeder earned OVC Defensive Player of the Week two weeks ago for her efforts against SEMO and Western Illinois. She has totaled 71 blocks on the season.   

 

About UT Martin: UT Martin arrives on campus with a struggling 1-9 OVC record and 2-19 overall. The Skyhawks lost both matches against Tennessee Tech this past weekend. Their lone conference victory came against Western Illinois on October 10th in 5 sets. UT Martin is coached by Jaclynn Wilson, who is in her 11th season with the Skyhawks. Wilson is the all-time winningest head coach in UT Martin's NCAA Division I era. The Skyhawks are led by Kylie Surratt, a sophomore outside hitter who has recorded 203 kills. Alongside her, Ava Peters leads the way with 598 assists. Peters has won multiple OVC Player of the Week awards. Defensively, Abby Freund leads the team with 304 digs, and Carly Mueller holds the top spot with 60 blocks.  

 

All-Time Series: The Panthers and UT Martin have a long history, with a 34-24 all-time series favoring EIU. The last meeting between the two programs was in 2023, in which Eastern Illinois won 3-1. The year prior, the Panthers split the season series in Charleston, Ill. 

Both matches can be followed on ESPN+ and the Live Stats link above.