Box Score Eastern Illinois Volleyball's historic season comes to a close after falling to No. 3 Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. EIU finishes the season 24-8 (15-3 OVC).
EIU dropped both sets one and two, struggling to find a rhythm early on. The Panthers trailed early in both of the first two sets right out of the gate and were unable to provide resistance. In set one, the Badgers hit 0.48% and 0.542% in set two. For the match, Wisconsin hit 0.435. EIU struggled connecting offensively, hitting 0% in set one and 0.022 overall. After the first two sets concluded, the Panthers looked for a spark, and
Tori Mohesky answered the call with fireworks right from the jump. Mohesky earned a service ace to calm the Badgers crowd. EIU returned back-to-back points to hold their largest lead, fueled by
Destiny Walker and a Wisconsin attack error. Shortly after, EIU trailed 15-9 heading into the media timeout. After the break in the action, both teams went back and forth trading points. Wisconsin reached set point 24-15. However, the Panthers found life and roared back into the match, scoring four straight unanswered points charged by a
Katie Kopshever service ace and two blocks by
Emma Schroeder and
Sylvia Hasz. Unfortunately, the Badgers closed out the set 25-19.
By The Numbers: EIU records their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Destiny Walker led the way offensively with 6 kills and 1 service ace.
Sylvia Hasz collected 16 assists and 3 block assists. Defensively, Ariadne Pereles recorded 8 digs, while
Emma Schroeder produced 5 block assists.
Lilli Amettis and
Katie Kopshever each collected a block assist.
The Panthers' historic season comes to a close, finishing with a 24-8 (15-3 OVC) record. After being picked to finish 8th in the OVC preseason poll, EIU stormed through conference play, securing their second OVC title in three years. EIU also collected their fourth regular season title in the program's history. The Panthers made their third NCAA Tournament appearance.