The Panthers fought back from a two-game deficit to force a game five Tuesday night against Tennessee-Martin.

They took a quick 1-0 lead after junior middle hitter Lauren Sopcic scored a kill, but they would never again obtain the lead, losing game five 15-8 and the match as well.

Eastern got off to a rough start, losing the first two games (30-27, 30-14), but then came back in the next two (24-30, 14-30).

The Panthers (1-7 OVC, 8-9 overall) have lost two in a row now, and four matches in a row to UT-Martin.

Eastern had played UT-Martin (2-5, 8-9) already this season Sept. 21 in a similar fashion, losing that match in five games as well.

Eastern was led offensively by senior outside hitter Eliza Zwettler, who had 15 kills and 13 digs on her 11th double-double of the season. Freshman outsider hitter Alex Zwettler had 15 digs as well on the night. Alex had a .393 hitting percentage for the match. Defensively, sophomore libero Shaina Boylan had 19 digs for the match.

The Skyhawks senior middle blocker Kathryn Sprague had 10 kills, a .364 hitting percentage and six blocks.

Coach Bennett and the Panthers were not available for comment after the match.

The Panthers will next travel to play Austin Peay at 7 p.m. Friday on their four-match road trip.