Eastern Illinois volleyball’s strong bounce back season was ended by Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin 3-0 (25-11, 25-6, 25-19) in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships Thursday night at Wisconsin Field House.
Wisconsin (25-4, 17-3) had full control of the game from the opening serve, and while the Panthers (24-8, 15-3) may have fought back in the third set, the game was already too far gone.
Eastern was missing a key player in two-time Ohio Valley Conference setter of the year Catalina Rochaix, who suffered a calf injury in pregame warmups.
Stepping up in her place was senior setter Sylvia Hasz, who hadn’t played a full match since September 13.
“I’m super, super proud of her, but incredibly saddened for Cati [Rochiax],” head coach Ryan Millar said. “She’s an institution at EIU. She’s a two-time conference champion, two-time conference setter of the year, and in her last match at EIU she unfortunately gets an injury. It’s just super heartbreaking”
The team felt the loss of Rochaix on offense, as they were only able to put up a combined 17 points in the first two sets.
The Panthers came out swinging in the third set starting off up 3-1. This fight continued throughout the set as the team was fighting to keep it’s season alive. While they may have put up a respectable effort, it was no match for the dominant Badgers.
“It was nice to see the girls not kind of roll over after that second set demonstration because they obviously dominated us in the second set,” Millar said. “It’s too bad we didn’t do that from [the beginning] in the first set.
The match was the last game for seven Eastern seniors, a group that includes middle blocker Emma Schroeder and outside hitter Lilli Amettis.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Schroeder said. “At the end of the day, we did some pretty big things as a program this season.
Schroeder was a huge part of the team’s success this season, averaging the most blocks per set in conference with 1.17.
“I did start crying almost immediately after the game,” Amettis said. “It hadn’t fully hit me that this was gonna be my last game as a volleyball player, especially at EIU.”
Amettis filled in for an injured player in late October and made a huge impact on the team’s success ever since. She made the All-OVC second team and was named the OVC tournament’s most valuable player.
While Amettis may have been emotional after the game, nobody was more emotional in the post-game press conference than Millar, who was unable to hold back his emotions and tears.
“We are gonna miss these seniors greatly. I can’t understate that enough,” Millar said. “These girls put their heart and their soul into this season. It’s tough, I’m gonna miss you guys [the seniors]. A lot of good days.”
Despite the emotions, Eastern has a strong group of underclass players who will be given the task of stepping up and taking over in the 2026 season.
“It’s time for that group of sophomore players to kind of take the reins and figure out what the program is gonna look like moving forward,” Millar said.
Aaron Coffin can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]
