Eastern’s volleyball team was shut out Friday afternoon by the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles. The match marked the end of Eastern’s second Ohio Valley Conference series on the new season. The final score on Friday was 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-16).
Make no mistake; the set-by-set scores may appear close, but the match was far from it. Eastern had the lead once throughout the entirety of the final two sets. That lead came early in the second frame when Southern Indiana committed a service error putting the score at 5-4 in the Panther’s favor.
Their lead quickly disappeared. A brutal spike from the Screaming Eagles tied the game. A five-point scoring run swiftly followed.
Speaking of runs, Jeff Aucoin, head volleyball coach at USI believes that’s why his team won so soundly.
“We focused on trying to get more streaks of points,” said Aucoin. “Last night we could only get [points] one at a time, we couldn’t get into a rhythm. The serving pressure was huge tonight. We were able to get to our second, third, fourth and fifth serve.”
When USI lost the serve, they were able to side out relatively quickly (getting a “side out” is when the non-serving team scores and retakes the ball).
Southern Indiana’s ability to get quick side outs limited Eastern’s ability to sustain runs. Aside from a lengthy seven-point stretch late in the third set, Eastern’s longest streak of points was a stretch of four early in the first.
That run saw Freshman outside hitter Destiny Walker score two aces, while junior outside hitter Matilda
Dahlström began the streak with a kill. Freshman outside hitter Katie Kopshever bookended the stretch with a powerful spike. The Panther’s lost their run after a serve by Walker landed out of bounds.
That streak was part of a promising first set for the Panthers. Graduate middle Ireland Hieb had four points, consisting of three kills and two block assists. Dahlström led the team with four and a half points in the first set.
With their offense scoring points, Eastern was able to match Southern Indiana and put a few runs together in the first frame.
“The runs help us very much,” said Dahlström, who hails from Malmo, Sweden. “We get lots of energy from the runs. So, everyone swings a little harder and everyone is less afraid of missing. I’ve noticed when the other team gets a run we slow down, we’re afraid of missing.”
The aforementioned 5-0 Southern Indiana run in the beginning of the second frame set the tone for the following sets. The Screaming Eagles held the lead for the rest of the match, escaping Charleston with a 2-0 series sweep.
“We’re still a very new team,” said Dahlström. “I’m one of four transfers. We have four freshmen. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
On top of the new players, Eastern is without junior setter Catalina Rochaix, a player whom assistant coach Manolo Conception likens to Tom Brady (the NFL quarterback) in regard to her commitment to her sport.
Aucoin noted that the team is still effective without Rochaix, and he’s glad his squad ended Friday’s game in three sets.
“It’s always a relief,” said coach Aucoin. “You always want to make sure it’s an easier day than a harder day, like it was on Thursday night. Eastern is a great team. Obviously, they are hurting without Catalina in the line-up right now. But they are a good team. Hopefully we can see them again in November.”
Eastern falls to 4-10 after the USI series, while the Screaming Eagles rise to 8-9. The Panther’s next match is on Thursday, Oct. 10 against Western Illinois in Macomb. Their next home game is on Tuesday, Oct. 16 against Southern Illinois – Edwardsville at 6 p.m.
Aidan Cusack can be reached at 581-2812 or at atcusack@eiu.edu.
