Eastern sophomore outside hitter Alex Zwettler pumped her fists. Freshman defensive specialist Brittany Wallace jumped up for joy. Other players on the court hugged each other and cheered.

This reaction was to a lifting penalty committed by Tennessee State freshman libero Terakka Walker in Saturday’s fifth set that lifted the weight of losing off the Panthers’ shoulders.

That error finalized the long road to victory for Eastern (4-14, 1-7 Ohio Valley Conference), who hadn’t won since its Sept. 6 match against Chicago State. In between were 11 straight losses and no set wins.

The road to victory was filled with adversity.

The Panthers averaged only 28 kills per match for a .071 hitting percentage. Eastern’s passing struggled too with 26 assists per match.

Zwettler, sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Orr and junior libero Shaina Boylan suffered injuries that halted participation or hurt performance.

Eastern head volleyball coach Lori Bennett said she wasn’t surprised her team beat the Lady Tigers. She said she knew her team learned many lessons through the losing streak.

“One of the lessons learned was how to focus all the time,” Bennett said. “In set five, they focused only on doing their job, not winning or losing.”

Senior middle hitter Lauren Sopcic agreed with her coach.

“We were not focusing on the win,” Sopcic said. “We were focusing on each point.”

Echoes of this single minded determination where seen after Friday’s demoralizing loss to OVC rival Austin Peay. Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Orr voiced her team’s frustration with losing due to eight service errors.

“It isn’t skill,” Orr said of Eastern’s opponents. “When you walk into our locker room at the end of a game, we are like, ‘What happened?’ We knew we could beat these teams.”

Dropping the first set to the Lady Tigers 34-32 after leading 24-17, and losing the third set to trail 2-1, the Panthers had to dig deep and come from behind the first time this season. Zwettler said she wasn’t deterred from this challenge.

“Of course, it was frustrating and hard with that final blow (in set one), but we knew what kind of work needed to be put in,” Zwettler said.

The forth set saw Eastern jump out to an 18-7 advantage and hold on for the 25-16 victory, forcing a tiebreaking fifth set.

With only 15 points needed to win the match, Tennessee State sprinted to a 12-8 lead. Eastern, who typically would have lost in that situation in previous matches, stood strong by getting six kills and forcing three Lady Tigers’ errors.

“We were working our tails off trying to get to the win,” Sopcic said. “Now we can try to carry the momentum.”

This victory showed a focused Panther team execute well in stressful situations. If Eastern can continue focusing on their jobs and not get lose concentration when they are behind, more success could be on the horizon.

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