Macomb, IL - Western Illinois Volleyball fell to first place Eastern Illinois in 4 sets on Wednesday night. WIU's conference record falls to 8-9. 

Set 1 

Keyana Cruse opened up the scoring for WIU with a kill set up by Maggie Craker. EIU would respond on a 4-0 run to lead 5-1. WIU was down 9-3 before using their first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, WIU slowly chipped away, starting with a kill from Brittany Wulf. Cruse would follow with a kill of her own. Maggie set up Julianna Schmidt for a kill to make the score 16-15 in favor of the Panthers. After an Eastern Illinois 3-1 run, WIU used a 4-0 run of their own to pull in front 20-19 on a block by Cruse. Schmidt would pick up one more kill, but EIU went on a 6-1 run to finish with a 25-21 set victory. 

Set 2 

EIU started set two with a 5-2 run. WIU would respond with a block from Schmidt and Annika Black. Craker acquired a block after an attack from Kaitlyn Flynn to make it 6-5. WIU cut the deficit to one (6-5) as Craker found Cruse again for the kill. Grace Kremer quickly got in on the action with a kill and a block to make it 11-9 EIU. EIU went on a 4-2 run to take a 15-11 lead heading to a media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, EIU could hold on to their lead, and they won set two by a final score of 25-18. 

Set 3 

All knotted up early at 4, WIU would control the rest of the set. It started with a kill from Elizabeth Ziegler, followed by an ace from Kremer to make it 6-4. EIU responded with a kill to make it 7-5. WIU would proceed to go on a dominant 18-3 run. Kaitlyn Wickersheim served up an ace early in the run to make it 11-5. Wulf secured back-to-back kills to take a 15-5 lead. Wulf served up an ace to make it 18-6. Cruse secured a kill to pile on the lead at 19-6. Cruse added two more kills, and WIU cruised to a 25-8 victory.

Set 4

WIU opened set four trailing 6-2 before Craker set up a kill for Ziegler. Craker dished out another assist, this time finding Schmidt for a kill, and WIU was back in striking distance, trailing 7-5. Western Illinois was able to come back to take a 9-8 lead courtesy of a Wulf kill. Schmidt would take the lead back at 10-9 with a kill. EIU would go on a 9-1 run to take an 18-11 lead. The Leathernecks responded with a 4-0 run to chip closer, only trailing 18-15. Eastern Illinois responded with back-to-back points to increase the lead to 20-15. Western Illinois kept chipping away, getting as close as trailing 23-20, but EIU could win the set 25-20 and match 3-1. 

Keyana Cruse led WIU with 17 kills on the night. Brittany Wulf finished with ten kills. Kaitlyn Wickersheim led WIU with 17 digs, while the libero Karli Wenzel finished with 11. Maggie Craker blocked two shots, while Grace Kremer and Julianna Schmidt had four blocking assists. 

WIU will wrap up the regular season tomorrow, facing Eastern Illinois. The match is set to start at 4 PM.