Volleyball: Homestand begins with Tennessee Martin

The volleyball team will be hosting the Tennessee Martin at 7 p.m. tonight at Lantz Arena.

The Panthers are coming off a five-set victory (20-25, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 15-13) against Tennessee State and have won two out of their last three matches.

Just like the Panthers, the Skyhawks are 2-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The match will be the first at Lantz since Oct. 10 when the Panthers faced Jacksonville State and the Eastern could not be happier.

“I think its awesome, its every team’s dream to finish out the season with six matches at home,” said junior outside hitter Alex Zwettler.

The Skyhawks (7-16 overall) are coming off their second consecutive loss at home as they lost to Tennessee Tech in four sets on Oct. 24.

The Skyhawks attack features junior outside hitters Lauren Montague and Britany Wilburn.

Tennessee Martin swept Eastern in three straight sets in their last meeting, and Montague tallied 15 kills while Wilburn totaled 14.

It was Eastern’s sixth straight loss in what ended up being a nine-match losing skid.

The Panthers (9-17 overall) should be out for revenge as they have won two out of their last three matches.

Eastern will have to keep a close eye on the one-two punch of Montague and Wilburn this time around in order to win.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it will be ‘Dig for the Cure’ Night at Lantz Arena.

Donations will be accepted at the match, and they will also sell $10 T-shirts.

All money made will go toward the Susan B. Komen Foundation’s fight against breast cancer.

The Panthers’ second match of the week we be against 2 p.m. Saturday against Murray State.

Murray State is 6-6 in the OVC and has a 6-16 overall record. The Racers are in need of a wins during the home stretch to move into fourth place in the OVC ahead of Tennessee Tech.

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