Eastern Illinois 3 Southeast 2 - Box Score I PDF Version

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Southeast Missouri volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (18-25, 25-13, 25-20, 17-25, 10-15) decision to Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon at Houck Field House. The defeat marked the Redhawks first loss to a team in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division.
 
The Loss drops the Redhawks to 17-11 overall and 9-3 in the OVC as the Panthers improve to 8-18 and 5-7 in the conference.
 
“Eastern Illinois played really scrappy defense today and it really frustrated our offense,” said head coach Julie Folliard.
 
Junior Julie Shives led the Redhawks with 41 assists on the afternoon with a season-high 20 digs defensively.
 
The Panthers took the first frame 25-18 as they hit a match-high .368 with 17 kills. The Redhawks hit a modest .226 in the set, but only recorded 11 kills.
 
Southeast jumped out to an impressive 5-1 lead in the second frame on thier way to a 25-13 route of the Panthers. Southeast forced nine errors by EIU. The Redhawks added three blocks in the frame with Taylor Masterson adding a hand in each block.
 
The Redhawks took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-20 win in the third frame. The Redhawks recorded a match-high 14 kills in the frame as they forced seven errors by the Panthers in the set.
 
EIU battled back aggressively in the final two sets of the match. The Panthers took the fourth set 25-20. They closed out the frame on a 6-1 run.
 
In the fifth frame the Redhawks looked to be in control, but a 7-0 run by the Panthers gave them the match 15-10 after trailing 10-8.
 
Colleen Yarber paced the Redhawks offense with 18 kills on the afternoon. She also added 15 digs.
 
Masterson finished with nine kills and a game-high five blocks.
 
Reynae Hutchinson led all players with 21 kills and 22 digs on the afternoon.
 
The Redhawks head to Murray State and Austin Peay next weekend.