Volleyball team beats Belmont at home
November 5, 2017
The Eastern volleyball team beat Belmont for the first time in program history Saturday on the road.
This victory illustrated the team’s dominant control over East division rivals, as the Panthers have posted an aggregate of five wins to one loss against inter-conference opponents this season.
Since the Panthers play just one game a year versus such opponents, these games carry added relevance, particularly if the Panthers run into a cross conference team in the playoffs.
“What we have done is we have won matches against the other side of the conference that we only see once and that is really huge,” coach Sam Wolinski said, after a recent victory against Jacksonville State.
Perhaps the Belmont Bruins, the opponent in Saturday’s match, could cross paths with the Eastern volleyball team in a few weeks.
The Panthers’ bevy of scoring options overwhelmed and down-and-out Bruins team, in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) drubbing of Belmont.
Belmont came in stagnant to open the first, giving up an 8-3 run at the outset, a trend that ultimately led to its own demise.
These scoring woes continued into the second, despite four kills from the Bruins’ outside hitter and bona fide scoring threat Arianna Person.
As the second set progressed, the Panthers decimated each of the Bruins’ scoring runs in what had been an evenly matched set from the get go, executing five unanswered possessions to put the set out of reach.
Fresh off defeat in set two, Belmont built an early lead to start the third that, to the Bruins’ misfortune, withered away almost as quickly.
The Eastern volleyball team’s stellar defense effected 3.5 blocks, propelling the Panthers’ ahead for the remainder of the set.
For a game so lopsided, the Bruins had several botched attempts at recovery, committing 22 service errors by the end of the match.
The Panthers rallied behind outside hitter Taylor Smith, who notched her 13th double-double on the season, collecting 11 assists and digs for the match.
Freshman Outside hitter Laurel Bailey tallied nine kills, while Smith chipped in seven kills and four blocks.
Person appeared to be the lone bright spot for the Bruins, totaling 10 kills by the end of the match.
With the win, the Panthers have a good shot to make the OVC Tournament with just two matches left on the schedule.
Picking up a win against the Bruins was key for the Panthers as their next two matches are against two teams fighting for a final spot in the tournament.
Up next for Eastern is Tennessee-Martin followed by Southeast Missouri.
Eastern is 7-7, which has it in the sixth spot in the standings.
Tom O’Connor can be reached at 581-2812 or troconnor@eiu.edu