CHARLESTON, Ill. - Sarah Trimpe was one kill away from a triple-double as she tallied nine kills, a season-high 46 assists and 11 digs in Western Illinois' 3-1 win (25-19, 23-25, 25-15, 25-9) over Eastern Illinois, Friday.

"Sarah is continuing to contribute to the offense by setting and attacking," Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay. "If something is working for her on the second ball, she is being aggressive and finding ways to score. It's important to the team for her to have this style of play because it puts our hitters at an advantage when she does set."

The Westerwinds (2-3) took an early 5-1 lead in the first set and the Panthers (2-3) followed Western's example by going on a 4-1 run to tie the game at 6-6. An Eastern Illinois rotation error gave Western the lead and the serve at 7-6. Trading points back and forth, Western maintained the lead for a 25-19 victory.

The Panthers went on a 3-0 run to start the second set, but Western came back to tie the set at 7-7. Freshman Brooke Stittleburg served up an ace to take the first Western Illinois lead in the set (8-7). The Westerwinds held onto the lead until the Panthers' middle hitter Lauren Sopcic had back-to-back kills to tie the set at 16-16. Western pulled ahead until tied at 22-22, Eastern took its first lead of the match at 23-22. A Trimpe kill tied the score at 23-23, but the Panthers' Alex Swettler had the final pair of kills to win the set, 25-23.

Tied at 1-1 in the match, both teams showed they were hungry to take the third set as the score went back and forth until 14-14 when a block by Cait Egan and Monique Houston pushed Western into the lead. Back-to-back Houston kills pushed Western ahead 16-14 and the Westerwinds extended the lead to as many as 10 points for a final set victory of 25-15. Western had a .405 team hitting percentage to Eastern's .130. Houston tallied eight kills with a .407 hitting percentage in the set.

Closing out the match, Western Illinois defeated Eastern Illinois in the fourth set, 25-9, the largest point deficit of the season.

Houston had a season-high 15 kills with a .375 hitting percentage and was one dig away from a double-double. Emily Harrison had 10 kills and three others tabbed nine. Egan assisted in four blocks and picked up two solo blocks contributing to a season-high eight team blocks.

"Mo is getting back into her groove," McKay said. "She started off slow last weekend and came to practice this week positive and focused and it showed in her play tonight. Cait focuses on her blocking game and is very demanding of herself. She's starting to see the payoff of her great work ethic."

Western Illinois will continue tournament competition with a 10 a.m. match against Toledo and a 4 p.m. match against Chicago State will round out the Eastern Illinois Panther Challenge, Saturday.