After a rough start to the weekend in Terre Haute, the Panthers close out a three-match series on a high note. EIU moves to 6-2, while Butler falls to 4-5.

Set One: EIU dropped the first two matches this weekend; however, game three was a different story. The Panthers came out red hot with an early 8-4 lead. Using a 6-0 scoring run, EIU bolstered their lead to 18-10. With the first set in their hands, the Panthers held off a late comeback attempt by the Bulldogs to win 25-21. Eastern recorded 11 kills, 11 assists, and 22 digs.

Set Two: The first set was all EIU; the next one was a little tighter in competition. The Bulldogs would have the lead for the majority of the set until EIU came rolling back, tying it up at 22 apiece. After back-to-back kills by Butler, the Panthers needed a timeout. Unfortunately, the timeout was not enough, as the Bulldogs outlasted EIU 25-22. The Panthers totaled 10 kills, 10 assists, and 11 digs.

Set Three: With the series tied 1-1, the Panthers and Butler took turns holding a lead through the set. There were 12 ties and 6 lead changes in the third set. Butler tried to pull away, holding a 21-20 lead off of a kill by Alaleh Tolliver, but then it was all EIU the rest of the way. The Panthers scored five unanswered with a kill by Katie Kopshever to close the third set. Eastern Illinois totaled 15 kills, 14 assists, and 18 digs. 

Set Four: As expected, with EIU looking to close out the match, Butler provided resistance. Both teams used long scoring runs of their own, unable to pull away from one another. Eastern Illinois was forced to call a timeout after trailing 15-13, which caused a mini 3-0 scoring run to tie the match at 16-16. Panthers would go on to race past the Bulldogs, forcing Butler to call multiple timeouts. Those timeouts were not enough, and Eastern Illinois won the final game of their three-match weekend.

EIU will be back in action next weekend at the University of Illinois to face Iowa State and Illinois.