Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Orr has been playing through a bicep impingement in her right shoulder. She said she injured it at the Ole Miss Magnolia Class Sept. 13 against Georgia Tech. For Orr, she hasn’t been able to attack effectively since the injury. She has three kills in her last five matches. Before the injury, Orr notched 59 kills.

“It’s easy to become negative, but if you keep from getting negative, it won’t get to you,” Orr said.

As an outside hitter, Orr is accustomed to staying up front and being aggressive. She has been regulated to the back row the last five matches.

“Anyone can win and do well but you have to go through adversity,” Orr said. “It takes teammates and a good coach to get me through this.”

Panther kills have been down

For Eastern’s last nine matches, only one player has notched 10 or more kills in a match. Freshman outside hitter Madison Barr had 10 kills Sept. 20 against Eastern Kentucky.

“We’re kind of struggling to get (players) into a rhythm and stay in a rhythm,” said Eastern head coach Lori Bennett.

During the same time, opponents have scored 359 kills while the Panthers made only 235. Eastern is second to last in the Ohio Valley Conference with 462 kills, only two more than Eastern Kentucky.

Statistical leaders needed

Of the seven individual statistical categories in the OVC, the Panthers have only two representatives. Senior middle hitter Lauren Sopcic is ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.271) while freshman setter Hannah Deterding compiled 227 assists, good for 10th in the conference. Freshman libero Brittany Wallace was one of the top diggers in the league before a cold weekend against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State. Wallace has 152 digs this season.

“We train and know the numbers we need as a team (to win),” Bennett said. “Individually, we need some more people doing these things to get our team at that point.”

Sopcic agreed with her coach about raising stats. She said if the Panthers are able to put aspects like receiving and setting together, players will fed off the system and do well individually.

“If an aspect is lacking, you can’t lead in a category,” Sopcic said.

Eagles live up to rankings

Pre-season OVC favorite Morehead State has lived up to its hype. The Eagles have posted an OVC mark of 5-0 to go with their 14-2 overall record.

In team statistical categories, Morehead State is first in opponent hitting percentage (.150), assists (728), kills (784) and blocks (116). They are second in digs (16.72 per set), hitting percentage (.203) and service aces (87).

Tennessee Tech (7-8, 4-1 OVC) defeated Eastern on Friday and is second in the league. The Golden Eagles are led by senior setter Kappy Lang’s OVC leading 553 assists. Junior libero Katie Kenline has 237 digs, fourth in the conference.

Third place Austin Peay (11-5, 3-1 OVC) beat Tennessee State 3-0 on Friday but lost to Morehead State on Sept. 23. Eastern is the only team without a conference victory (3-12, 0-5 OVC).

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.