The Eastern volleyball team had another successful weekend of play earning a win against Tennessee Martin last Friday before narrowly losing a heated battle against Murray State on Saturday at Lantz Arena.

The Panthers have now earned a win in each of the past three weekends and have increased their win total to double digits, which is a feat they were not able to accomplish last season.

The Panthers’ overall record now stands at 10-18, while their Ohio Valley Conference record sits at 3-12.

“Every win you can get is better than the year before,” said head coach Alan Segal. Friday night brought a great start to the Halloween weekend for the volleyball squad as they disposed of UT Martin in a four set (21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17) match on “Dig for the Cure” night at Lantz Arena.

The Panthers were able to get revenge for a match in October, in which the Skyhawks beat the Panthers in Martin, Tenn.

Junior outside hitter Kelsey Orr lead the Panthers with 14 kills over the course of the match, while sophomore outside hitter Melanie Boykins and junior outside hitter Alex Zwettler tied with 12 kills a piece.

Saturday the Panthers as they engaged in a thrilling five set battle against visiting Murray State.

Eastern started off hot, and cruised through the first two sets against Murray State 25-14, and 25-22.

Up two sets to none, Racers’ junior outside hitter Ashley Nenninger proceeded to take over the match, recording 17 kills and leading the Murray State attack. Also causing trouble for the Panthers were Racer setter Jade Guo and Sara Hayden who both finished with nine kills.

The Racers managed to win the next two sets, and finished off a tired Panthers’ team in the fifth set by a score of 15-10.

Despite the loss, three Panthers finished in double digits including senior Jessica Wheeler, Boykins and Zwettler.

Zwettler led both teams in kills with 20 and also had 13 digs. It was her 38th career double-double performance.

“This weekend was fun to play,” Zwettler said. “We got a good win against UTM and lost a heartbreaker to Murray. We are getting a lot better.”

The Panthers now have four matches left in the season, all of which will be played at Lantz Arena. The team’s next match will be 7 p.m. Friday versus Eastern Kentucky.

Kevin Maras can be reached at 581-7944 or

kjmaras@eiu.edu.