The Eastern Illinois Panthers suffer their first loss of the 2025 season. EIU began the regular season 5-0, including last weekend's sweep of the Saluki Bash. That invitational included Southern Illinois, Kansas City, and New Mexico. After suffering their Friday night loss, the Panthers will face Montana and Butler to round out their weekend. 

The Sycamore set the tone for the night, with Indiana State taking set one 25-18. Indiana State used a 9-0 scoring run early to open the night with an 11-3 lead and never looked back. Expanding the lead to 20-10; however, EIU would never back down, forcing a late Indiana State timeout with a 4-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 18-24. Unfortunately, EIU could not complete the comeback and dropped set one. The Panthers would go on to take set two fueled by a better start to the set. A more back-and-forth set than the previous one, EIU would take control late with a 4-0 and 3-0 scoring run to close the second set. After tying up the match, the Sycamores would take command, winning a nail-biter 25-22, in which EIU led late 21-20 after a 4-0 scoring. After Indiana State called timeout, the Sycamores regrouped and outpaced the Panthers. Set four entailed a close start with both teams exploding with long scoring runs. Unfortunately, Indiana State would close out the match, winning 25-12. 

The Panthers were led by Catalina Rochaix, the match assist leader with 25 and a hitting percentage of .500. Ariadna Pereles led the match with 30 digs and Katie Kopshever contributed 12 total points. 

EIU will be back in action tomorrow morning, Saturday 13th, at 10:00 a.m.