Colonels sweep Panthers to clinch conference title

For the first time since 1984 and only the second time ever, Eastern's volleyball team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.Eastern earned the berth and the Ohio Valley Conference Championship by defeating Eastern Illinois 3-0 on Nov. 22.

"I had the feeling that if we could shut one of their top players down, we could shut the whole team down," coach Lori Duncan said. "And that is basically what happened."

Eastern defeated Austin Peay 3-1 earlier in the tournament to earn the right to play for the championship.

"Eastern Illinois don't play as a group," Duncan said. "APSU gave us more of a game not only in the OVC tournament but in the last game of the season."

McBrayer Arena was as loud as it has ever been for a volleyball match, and the fans gave true meaning to home-court advantage.

Seventeen kills by senior Lesley Aldridge along with 15 digs was the match high. Aldridge was named Most Valuable Player of the OVC Tournament.

Eastern (27-4) had 63 kills in the three-game match, and the Colonel defense tallied 66 digs and eight blocks as a team. Five of the eight blocks came from junior Liz Guard, who had a career-high 14-block performance the night before. That along with her 11 kills against EIU earned her a spot on the OVC All-Tournament Team along with freshman Brittany Nobilio and sophomore Kasha Brozek.

Sophomore Kelly Jennings' 49 assists, 14 digs and nine kills caused her to fall one kill short of her first triple-double.

Two freshman, Amy Arlinghaus and Shelley George, were a major part of Eastern's 30-24 win in game one.

A kill by Arlinghaus during the first game put the momentum on Eastern's side of the court, and a kill by George with Eastern up 29-24 sealed the deal for the Colonel's in game one.

Halfway through game two, Eastern held onto a one-point advantage at 15-14. The game went on to be tied at 21 until a kill by Guard broke the tie and sparked a 5-0 run by the Colonel's. Eastern won game two 30-25.

In what proved to be the decisive game of the match, Eastern came out in game three rejuvenated.

Four consecutive kills by Aldridge helped Eastern build a 6-0 advantage. A block by Brozek midway through the first match had Eastern up 15-8. After a Brozek and Aldridge block, Eastern's lead reached nine points at 24-15.

Arlinghaus' 16th and 17th kills of the match were the final two points, and Eastern clinched the match by a score of 30-19.

Eastern will now travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to battle the 12th-seeded Lady Vols in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

UT, ranked 10th in the nation, put Eastern out of the tournament in 1984 by a score of 3-0.

"Our draw for the tournament is really good," Duncan said. "We are not playing a Nebraska or Florida, where you're not just playing a good opponent, you are playing volleyball history."

Tennessee won the Southeastern Conference title and went 30-2 overall and 15-1 in the SEC. It is the Vols' first SEC title since 1984.

The Colonels have not been on the road since late October, but the closeness of Knoxville had Duncan optimistic.

"We have been sleeping in our own beds for over a month, and that is definitely an advantage," Duncan said. "But Tennessee is just two hours down the road, and that is not bad. It's like an away game at Morehead."

Other than Eastern and Tennessee, Winthrop and Texas A&M are also seeded in Knoxville. The team that advances will go on to play in the Minneapolis regional on Dec. 10-11.







Reach Brandon at

brandon_roberts@eku.edu