CHARLESTON – Despite finishing with exactly the same number of kills as Eastern Illinois, the SIUE volleyball team dropped its Ohio Valley Conference opener Wednesday night on the road.
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The Panthers defeated SIUE in a tight match 25-22, 25-23, 25-23. Both teams had 40 kills for the match.
SIUE freshman outside hitter Ellen LeMasters matched her career high with a team-leading 12 kills and turned in a career-best .417 hitting percentage. Rachel McDonald added nine for the Cougars, which hit .174 as a team.
"Offensively we saw some good things and took some good swings," said SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus. "We just had a hard time getting into a rhythm. It was hard to gain momentum. We would go on a scoring run then we'd give up a run."
Eastern Illinois, 5-10 overall and 1-0 in the OVC, completed the match with a .239 hitting percentage. Laurel Bailey paced the Panthers with a game-high 13 kills while Kylie Michaels added 12.
"EIU did a nice job of keeping the ball inbounds with a balanced offense, and that can wear you down," said Paulus. "Overall, we worked hard and had some highlights."
SIUE, 1-12 overall and 0-1 in the OVC, next heads to Belmont for a 2 p.m. league contest Saturday.
"When you have room for growth," said Paulus, "there's room for opportunity so our focus now goes to Belmont."
