The Panthers only had two days rest from the weekend when they lost two Ohio Valley Conference matches, and they already have to play again tonight.

Southeast Missouri comes to Lantz Arena today to face the Panthers (7-4, 1-1 OVC).

The fatigue on the team may play a factor in tonight’s game.

SEMO has just come off a win against Tennessee Tech winning in five-games (3-2) and will come to face Eastern on the last road game of their September schedule.

Bennett said she is not too concerned with the past weekend’s losses.

“We did some good things,” Bennett said. “Especially on Saturday, we saw some changes we’d been looking for. Those things were transitions into offense and better defense.”

But Bennett said she was still disappointed by the losses. Especially the loss to Tennessee Tech where Bennett said she said the team overall did not play well.

The Panthers were defeated by the Golden Eagles 3-1 in four games (31-29, 21-30, 25-30, 18-30) on Friday.

SEMO, on the other hand, defeated TTU in five games.

Five games is something Eastern has been used to.

The Panthers have played five-game matches five times so far this season. They are 3-2 in those situations.

Junior middle hitter Lauren Sopcic said earlier in the week she felt the Panthers were still tough in the fifth game and it showed an “ability to execute in the fifth game.”

Bennett agreed that one of her team’s strengths was in the fifth game.

“We don’t like having to go to the fifth game,” Bennett said. “We like to win sooner, but we do a good job at executing in the fifth game.”

Bennett said she runs drills that start at 27-all. She said it forces the players to react in tight-game situations.

At one point the Panthers were on a five-match winning streak, but have lost the past three consecutive matches.

Their most recent loss comes from Tennessee State, a team that also defeated SEMO 3-2.

Bennett attributed some of the trouble during the past weekend to the age and experience of the team.

“We have a lot of young players on the team so there are going to be days like that,” Bennett said. “It’s just part of our process of getting better. You know, to make it through that process you can’t get frustrated. We’re working harder on getting better.”

But some of the young players on the team were some of the key performers for the Panthers against Tennessee State.

Freshman outside hitter Kelsey Orr had four aces against TSU, and freshman hitter Alex Zwettler had 22 kills, 14 digs.

Bennett was more impressed by Orr’s defense than her offense.

“Kelsey played great on Saturday,” Bennett said. “She was making a lot of stops and dug a lot more balls Saturday than she has in past matches.”

Orr had 13 digs for the match.

Bennett said matches against SEMO are usually close and she expects the same tonight.

“They have a few more seniors contributing on their team,” Bennett said. “I think it will be a good match.”

Tonight’s match at 7 in Lantz Arena will start a five-match home stand that will last until Sept. 29; the Panthers will play Tennessee Martin, Murray State, Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State.