Volleyball Defeats Eastern Illinois, 3-1

Friday, September 13

Evansville, Ind.

3:30 PM CT

Middle Tennessee

1-6

Eastern Illinois

0-7

Eastern Illinois

MTSU

9/13/2019 6:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

By: @MTAthletics

EVANSVILLE, Ind.— The Middle Tennessee volleyball team defeated Eastern Illinois in four sets by scores of 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 Friday evening at Evansville. The Blue Raiders improve to 1-6 on the season, while the Panthers fall to 0-7.

Freshman Kayla Henley led the team attacks with a total 16 kills on the match, and tallied 10 digs to record her first ever double-double. Dora Peonia finished with 10 kills and a team leading 17 digs, recording her third double-double on the season. Taylor Hammill dished out 49 assists to tie her season-high.

Set-By-Set
Eastern Illinois got off to a 3-0 lead in the first set before the Blue Raiders put a point on the board. MT trailed the Panthers for the first half of the set, but tied it up 12-12 with a kill from Henley. The two teams battled back and forth until the Panthers broke off and took a bigger lead, eventually taking set one, 25-20.

The Blue Raiders came back for vengeance in the second set, jumping to a 5-0 lead with a Mikaela Weidmann kill and two service aces from Freshman Marley Banton. MT held the lead throughout the set and went on a 6-0 run that included two kills from Emma Grever and three aces from Hammill. The Blue Raiders claimed set two, 25-16.

In set three, Eastern Illinois took a 3-0 lead with a kill and two MT attacking errors, but the Blue Raiders tied it up 4-4. The Panthers took another 19-14 lead until the Blue Raiders went on a 4-0 run to come within one. The two teams were tied at 21-21 after an Eastern Illinois attacking error, followed by another attacking error to give MT its first lead of the set, 22-21. Kills from Henley and a few more Panther errors allowed the Blue Raiders to take set three, 25-22.

The two teams went point-for-point in set four, tying up the score on nine occasions. The Blue Raiders took a 16-15 with a kill by Urte Neimantaite and held on to it the rest of the set. Peonia led the team attacks in the fourth set with six total kills, including one kill that gave the Blue Raiders a 24-20 lead. A Henley kill clenched the set, giving MT its first victory of the season, 3-1.

Up Next
The Blue Raiders face two more opponents Saturday afternoon in the Dunn Hospitality Tournament. They take on host Evansville at 12:30 p.m. CT and Purdue Fort Wayne at 3:30 p.m. CT at the Meeks Family Fieldhouse. Live stats will be available for both matches.

Keep up with Blue Raider Volleyball online: Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Volleyball on Facebook, @MT_Volleyball on Twitter and @mt_volleyball on Instagram.