table{border-collapse:separate;border-color:blue; border-style:ridge;}caption {caption-side:bottom}Graphic by Adam Larck/The Daily Eastern NewsTeamConference RecordOverall RecordJacksonville State9-0

16-5Morehead State8-115-5Austin Peay7-113-5Tennessee Tech5-46-12Eastern Kentucky4-44-13Murray State3-53-15Southeast Missouri3-66-12UT Martin2-77-11Tennessee State1-62-15Eastern Illinois1-97-15

Eastern junior outside hitter Alex Zwettler said it best.

“We played tough this weekend, but still haven’t learned how to finish matches,” Zwettler said.

The Eastern volleyball team lost its eighth straight match Saturday afternoon against Ohio Valley Conference leader Jacksonville State (16-5, 9-0 OVC). The Panthers jumped out to leads of 17-11 in the third set and 5-1 in the fourth set, but couldn’t close.

The Panthers (7-15, 1-9 OVC) lost in four sets to both the Gamecocks (26-24, 11-25, 21-25, 21-25) and Tennessee Tech (25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 24-26) Friday at Lantz Arena.

Eastern managed to squeeze out a 26-24 opening-set win against JSU. The Panthers could not hold their lead and allowed the Gamecocks to roar back and win the final three sets to claim their 10th straight victory, putting them in first place in the OVC.

The Panthers are in 10th place in the OVC. The top six teams qualify for the OVC Tournament, something Eastern has not done since 2005.

Two Panthers were able to hit in double-digit numbers against the Gamecocks as Zwettler and sophomore middle blocker Melanie Boykins had 16 and 12 kills each. Zwettler finished with a double-double with 16 digs. Sophomore libero Brittany Wallace led the Panthers with 27 digs.

JSU is now the lone unbeaten team in conference play and, though they came out with a four set victory, the Gamecocks did not feel Eastern was a pushover at all.

“Their record doesn’t show it, but they are a really tough team,” JSU head coach Rick Nold said in a press release.

Against TTU, Eastern jumped to an early lead and claimed the first set with key performances from Zwettler and senior outside hitters Jessica Wheeler.

Wheeler had eight kills while Zwettler had another double-double 13 kills and 14 digs. Freshman middle hitter Stephanie Arnold also helped out with eight kills and Boykins finished with 11 kills.

The Golden Eagles came out ready after the break. After losing to Eastern early on in the season, TTU gave the Panthers all they could handle, winning the last three sets.

The Panthers now focus on Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, as they go on the road yet again for their next four matches. First serve versus Southeast Missouri will be at 7 p.m. Friday night in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Kevin Maras can be reached at 581-7944 or kjmaras@eiu.edu.