Eastern Illinois volleyball had a successful double header this weekend at home, going 2-0 against Southeast Missouri.
The victories propelled the Panthers to 5-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play which is good for third place in the conference. The wins also bring them to a 4-0 record at home this season.
Here’s what we learned about the team from the weekend:
- The energy the team brings to Gardella Family Court is electric, and it leads to winning sets
From the first serve of the weekend, it was obvious this team came to play. The energy the team brought carried over into all eight sets from both games.
“You get nights like tonight where you just get a lot of good energy, a lot of effort you saw from the girls tonight,” head coach Ryan Millar said. “From point one to the first set, all the way through. You know, as a coach, it’s rewarding.”
This energy wasn’t just coming from the players on the court, but also from the players on the bench as well.
Every positive play for the team was followed by a celebration. Every time there would be some sort of dance or celebration by the players on the bench, and the energy they brought into the game was contagious.
The energy from the bench was spreading into the crowd as well, with fans dancing along with the players during timeouts.
“I really love playing here,” Millar said. “I just feel like the girls bring a totally different energy in here, it’s an easy place to play, the energy is always good with the crowd, the music’s pumping. I like our chances when we’re playing in Mcafee.”
- The trust this team has for each other takes them to the next level
One common thing this team and the coaching staff has shown is the amount of trust they have in each other. It’s one thing to hear about it, but you can see it on the court as well.
When a player would mention a challenge, or thought a challenge was needed during a set, Millar would challenge it.
Not every coach has this level of trust in their players to risk wasting a challenge, but Millar seems to put full trust in his players and never seems to think twice about it.
The team has put a lot of focus on defense this year, as the trust level impacts the overall trust the team has in general.
“I think we just have so much trust in our defense, which allows us to play so much better, allows us to hit harder, and swing at things,” sophomore middle blocker Anaya Rawlinson said. “Just the way that they’re there, covering for us, allows even the offense to play so much better.”
As trust continues to build throughout the season, this team has the potential to become even stronger as they grow more comfortable playing together.
- This team has multiple players who can dominate on any given night
This weekend saw multiple dominant performances from the Panthers, along with a few personal records across the team.
In the first game, senior outside hitter Tori Mohesky and senior middle blocker Emma Schroeder broke their career highs in different stats.
Mohesky tallied 17 kills in the match, which surpassed her previous career high of 14. She also chipped in 14 digs, two blocks, and two aces.
“It feels great,” Mohesky said. “Obviously it’s my senior year, we’ve been working really hard and kind of building up to this season, and it just feels really great to have all of the girls on the team being consistent and even throughout the match.”
Schroeder tallied nine total blocks in the match, beating out her previous high of seven which she set against Bucknell University in the season opener.
These two players may have had career nights, but they were not the only players who made a huge impact on the double header victory.
Sophomore outside hitter Destiny Walker was a key factor for SEMO as well, putting up 37 kills and 14 digs over the two games. Walker is having a dominant and consistent season on the attack averaging 15.7 kills per game this year.
Senior setter Catalina Rochaix had a phenomenal weekend as well, putting up 97 assists in the two games. This is nothing new for the setter, who is averaging 40.4 assists per game this season.
With players continuing to record career highs and teammates like Walker and Rochaix maintaining consistent performances, any player has the potential to stand out on a given night.
The Panthers look to carry momentum into Tuesday’s conference matchup with Western Illinois, after earning a 3-1 win over the Leathernecks in Macomb last week.
Game is set to start at 6p.m.
Aaron Coffin can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
