CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Eastern Illinois beach volleyball team defeated Morehead State in the opening round of the OVC Championship before falling to UT Martin on Thursday evening. The win over MSU was EIU's first OVC Tournament win, as well as their first win of the 2025 season.

The sixth seeded Panthers pulled off the upset by a score of 3-1 against the No. 3 seed Eagles.

After falling behind early with a straight set loss in the No. 4 pairs, EIU won the next three matchups, beginning with a 2-1 win by No. 5 pair Lilli Amettis and Julia Udell (21-14, 15-21, 15-12).

Sylvia Hasz and Tori Mohesky then brought Eastern one step closer to victory in No. 3 matchup with a comeback win in three sets (15-21, 21-7, 17-15).

The No. 1 pair of Catalina Rochaix and Destiny Walker secured the clinching point for EIU with an impressive straight set win over MSU's First-Team All-OVC duo of Irene Wogenstahl and Bella Marita.

The No. 2 matchup ended with the first set tied 19-19.

With the win, Eastern moved on to face No. 2 UT Martin on Thursday evening.

The Skyhawks came away with a 3-0 win, as they took the No. 3, 4, and 5 pairs in straight sets.

The Panthers will now play Tennessee Tech in elimination match on Friday at noon ET. The Golden Eagles have defeated EIU 3-2 in both of their previous matchups this season.