This has to be the year.

The signs are pointing toward it. The team is playing well. The schedule is kind to them.

This has to be the year that the volleyball team makes its return to the NCAA tournament.

What, did you think I was talking about the White Sox?

The volleyball team is the only team in the Ohio Valley Conference that has not lost a game.

At 6-0, they hold the keys to the race to Oct. 23. That is the date when the conference tournament host will be determined. The team with the best record will be hosting, and the Panthers have just four matches left before that date.

The season can be broken down into three parts so far. In the first part, the Panthers played very good competition and didn’t play well. A loss to Illinois, however, proved to be a turning point.

The Panthers have not lost a match since that Sept. 16, five-game loss.

As they coasted through their first three conference matches with three straight sweeps, a large match against the conference’s preseason favorite, Eastern Kentucky, loomed on the horizon.

They took care of the Colonels in four games and subjected them to a tongue-lashing from head coach Lori Duncan.

Since that match the Panthers have struggled to defeat Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech. But the winning streak has remained intact and the Panthers have a very good opportunity to return to their early conference-season form.

Eastern will begin a three-match stretch this weekend at Lantz Arena that has them facing teams with a combined 3-15 conference record.

Tennessee-Martin comes into Lantz at 6 p.m. on Friday with a 2-21 record looking for their first conference win of the season.

Murray State is here on Saturday and has a 3-10 record.

And next Saturday’s match at Samford will be against a 5-14 team.

The schedule is definitely favorable for the Panthers to host their first conference tournament since 1998.

One major obstacle stands in the Panthers’ way. On Oct. 22, the day before the cutoff date, they must travel to Jacksonville State.

The Gamecocks were picked to finish second in the preseason poll and did not lose their first conference match until last weekend. That match could be the match that determines who hosts the tournament.

The home court advantage could definitely be a factor in the tournament. Six of the last nine tournament hosts have advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Last season, EKU hosted the tournament and advanced.

“EKU’s crowd tore us apart (last year at the tournament),” said junior outside hitter Kara Sorenson after the Panthers beat Eastern Kentucky.

This year, it could be the Panther fans’ turn to do the tearing.