Eastern had a season-high 63 kills Saturday against Tennessee State. The Panthers performance eclipsed the previous season high of 44 kills against Campbell on Aug. 29.

Eastern had three players with 10 or more kills in the match against Tennessee State, which was also a season best.

Sophomore outside hitter Alex Zwettler had 23 kills to tie a personal best. Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Orr and senior middle blocker Lauren Sopcic contributed 17 and 12 kills, respectively.

The last time three players scored 10 or more kills in a match was against Austin Peay on Nov. 10, 2007.

Boylan reaches career milestone this weekend

Junior libero Shaina Boylan bumped her way into the Panther record books Saturday by getting her 1,000th dig.

Boylan had 43 digs combined against Austin Peay and Tennessee State to push her career total to 1,013. She is the 22nd Panther to have more than 1,000 digs and is currently No. 21 on the Eastern career digs list.

“Now I’ll break all the records,” Boylan said. “Look out record books.”

Orr regaining court presence after struggles

Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Orr came back full force this weekend after struggling offensively for the last six matches with just three kills. Orr had 24 kills in the Panthers’ two matches this weekend with 17 coming against Tennessee State.

“We were a lot more in-system,” Orr said. “I have to give my defense and passers credit because it’s hard to pass to the right side out of system.”

Orr’s recent struggles could be attributed to a bicep injury in her right shoulder she suffered at the end of the Ole Miss Magnolia Class in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 12-13.

“It doesn’t feel great but it is more tolerable,” Orr said. “Adrenaline helped.”

Eastern ends 34-set losing streak in conference win

During the Panthers 11-match losing streak from Sept. 6 through Friday, they weren’t able to win a single set.

That streak extended into Saturday with Eastern dropping the first set against the Lady Tigers.

In the second set, Eastern beat Tennessee State 25-16 to end 34 consecutive set loses – a program record.

The previous record was 12 straight sets lost in 1994 and 1995.

Austin Peay ends losing streak to Panthers

The Lady Governors snapped their six-match losing streak against Eastern with their match win Friday. This was Austin Peay’s first victory against the Panthers since the 2003 season.

“We knew they were a young team and have a lot of talent,” Austin Peay head coach Jenny Hazelwood said about Eastern. “We knew we could take advantage of that youth this time.”

Hazelwood said she anticipates the Panthers to come into their match against Austin Peay on Nov. 15 with intensity.

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

Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Orr, left, freshman middle blocker Melanie Boykins, middle, and freshman outside hitter/middle blocker Madison Barr, right, prepare as the ball heads over the net during Saturday’s match against Tennessee State in Lantz Are

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