Eastern Illinois suffered a loss in their opening match against Southern Indiana, 3-0. EIU falls to 8-5 (2-1 OVC), while the Eagles improve to 5-10 (1-2 OVC).
Set One: The Screaming Eagles flew out of the gates, scoring six unanswered points to take a 7-2 lead. The Panthers continued to struggle throughout the set, trailing 15-10 at the media timeout. After the break in the action, the Panthers provided resistance with two kills from the EIU leaders, Destiny Walker and Catalina Rochaix. Southern Indiana would respond, extending their lead to 22-17, forcing a late Eastern Illinois timeout. Unfortunately, EIU was unable to make a late comeback, falling in the first set 25-20.
Set Two: Back-and-forth action opened up set two with an early tie at 10-10. As the set moved along, no separation was made between the two teams. The largest lead for EIU was a 13-11 lead after two kills from Katie Kopshever. The media timeout would break the action with the score 15-15. When both teams returned, the Screaming Eagles scored three straight points, forcing another late timeout by the Panthers. EIU responded to the adversity and had the set knotted up at 20 apiece. A 3-0 scoring run would push the Eagles into the lead, in which they held on for a set two victory.
Set Three: After winning the first two sets, Southern Indiana ensured a match victory. The Eagles opened with an early 4-0 scoring run to take an 11-6 lead. The Panthers, trailing 17-10, would come storming back, scoring four unanswered points to close within three (17-14). As the set went on, EIU continued to find themselves in a hole until Lilli Amettis and Destiny Walker fueled a late comeback to close the deficit to 19-21. Unfortunately, Southern Indiana was able to hold on to take a 3-0 match victory.
By The Numbers: Destiny Walker led the Panthers with 12 kills. Katie Kopshever followed right behind with 11 kills. Catalina Rochaix led the team with 33 assists, and Ariadna Pereles led the way with 17 digs.
EIU will be back in action tomorrow against Southern Indiana at 2:00 PM.
