Eastern Illinois (22-3, 12-2 OVC) at SIUE (12-13, 6-8 OVC)
Friday, Nov. 10th
Edwardsville, Ill. | First Community Arena
6 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch
Eastern Illinois at SIUE
Saturday, Nov. 11th
Edwardsville, Ill. | First Community Arena
2 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch
ON TAP: The Panthers volleyball team hits the road this weekend for their final away contests of the regular season as they travel to Edwardsville to face off with SIUE. The action is set to begin on Friday, November 11th at 6 p.m. and then resume at 2 p.m. on Saturday for the second match.
SERIES HISTORY: The series between Eastern and SIUE has been a competitive one, with the Cougars currently holding a slight 15-14 advantage over the Panthers. The pair split their two matchups in Charleston last season, with the EIU taking the first match 3-1 before falling in five sets the following afternoon.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS:
- SIUE enters this weekend with an overall record of 12-13 that includes a 6-8 mark in the OVC. The Cougars dropped both of their contests at Morehead State last weekend.
- The SIUE attack is led by the tag team of Sydney Hummert and Priscilla Jones, who have 263 and 261 kills, respectively.
- The Cougar offense runs through setter Alyse Drifka who has recorded 515 assists (5.15 APS) on the season.
- SIUE has three players over 200 digs, led by Abi Banitt with 335 (3.42 DPS). She is followed by Sydney Hummert (262) and Alyse Drifka (235).
- The Cougars lead the OVC in opponent service aces allowed, limiting their competition to an average of 1.12 aces per set.
- SIUE is led by head coach Kendall Paulus. Paulus has been with the program since 2011 and was named head coach in 2017.
WEEKEND RECAP: EIU broke out the brooms against Little Rock this past weekend as they completed back-to-back 3-0 sweeps of the Trojans. Giovana Larregui López had a big weekend for the Panthers, hitting .600 and recording 20 kills (6.67 KPS) on Friday before collecting her 12th double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs on Saturday. Catalina Rochaix (78 assists, 13.0 APS) and Christina Martinez Mundo (36 digs, 6.0 DPS) also had strong showings for Eastern.
CONFERENCE STANDINGS: EIU is currently tied with SEMO for first place in the OVC, with both teams currently possessing conference records of 12-2. However, the Panthers control their own destiny to host to conference tournament as they hold the tie breaker between the two squads.
CONFERENCE LEADERS: Giovana Larregui López leads the OVC in points (433.5), points per set (4.71), service aces (55), and aces per set (0.60). She also leads in total kills (359) and kills per set (3.90), with Natalie Mitchem not far behind in third with 333 kills and 3.62 kills per set. Catalina Rochaix leads in assists (1,000) and assists per set (10.87) and Julia Stanev leads in blocks per set (1.12). Christina Martinez Mundo is third in the conference in total digs (511) and second in digs per set (5.38).
NATIONAL LEADERS: Giovana Larregui López is sixth nationally in service aces and fifth in aces per set. Christina Martinez Mundo is 10th in digs per set and 18th in total digs. Catalina Rochaix is 10th in assists per set and 18th in total assists.
TEAM RANKINGS: At 22-3, the Panthers have the eighth best winning percentage in the country and moved up to no. 71 in this week’s NCAA RPI ranking. As a team, EIU leads the OVC in eight different statistical categories. Nationally, they are seventh in service aces (195), fifth in aces per set (2.05), 15th in team hitting percentage (.283), and 25th in assists per set (12.73).
HEAD COACH: Sara Thomas is in her fourth season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois. Last season, Thomas led the Panthers to their second consecutive OVC Tournament appearance. With last week’s wins at Little Rock, her career record moved above .500 for the first time to 52-51.
