For the second straight weekend in a row, the women’s volleyball team managed to come out with a victory.

After being swept in three straight sets (18-25, 14-25, 15-25) Friday night versus Austin Peay, the Panthers rebounded and beat Tennessee State in a thrilling five set (20-25, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 15-13) victory.

“We played really hard the whole match, and when you play hard, good things happen,” said head coach Alan Segal.

The win was the second out of the last three matches for the Panthers, and puts them at 9-17 overall for the season.

The Panthers had a long night Friday as they were dominated by a ferocious Austin Peay offense.

Lead by senior opposite hitter Kirstin Distler and senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine, the Lady Govs’ offense notched 47 kills and a season-best .316 attack percentage. Champine put up a double-digit kill performance with 12 and also added 13 digs. Distler recorded five out of the Lady Gov’s nine blocks.

The Panthers had difficulty starting up their attack, as they were only able to amount 28 kills throughout the match. Eastern senior outside hitter Alex Zwettler led the Panthers with six kills.

Saturday afternoon was a different story for the Panthers as they were able to come up with a solid performance in a five set marathon against Tennessee State. Though it was the Panthers second victory in the last three matches, the win snapped their ten-match Ohio Valley Conference losing streak. The Panthers are now 9-17 overall with a 2-11 OVC record.

Sophomore middle hitter Melanie Boykins had 14 kills and had 4 blocks throughout the match. Junior middle blocker Jorie Dieter had 12 kills while Zwettler amounted 13.

Eastern struggled in the first set, losing by a score of 20-25 to TSU.

“We started off kind of shaky in sets one and two, but got our heads into the game after that,” Dieter said.

Through a dominant offensive attack, and a solid defensive game, the Panthers were able to finally overcome the Tigers and claim their victory.

Sophomore libero Brittany Wallace led the team with 17 digs and junior outside hitter Kelsey Orr had eight kills.

With their road schedule behind them, the Panthers have six more matches to look forward to, all of which will be at Lantz Arena. Their next match will be Friday against UT Martin, and first serve is set for 7 p.m. at Lantz Arena.

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