This weekend, the Eastern volleyball team went on the road for a pair of Ohio Valley Conference matches against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State, losing both in five and four sets respectively.

The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 set lead against Eastern Kentucky Friday, but Eastern was unable to hold on, as they proceeded to lose by final scores of 26-28, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20, and 15-11.

Saturday, the Panthers were again unable to hold an early lead, as they won the first set against Morehead State before falling by scores of 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, and 25-13.

With the pair of losses, the Panthers fall into seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Eastern is a half game behind sixth place Tennessee State, who the Panthers will play next weekend at Lantz Arena. TSU currently has the sixth and final OVC tournament spot.

“On any day, any team in the OVC can beat any team,” head coach Kate Price said.

In Friday’s match, four Panthers hit double-digit kills, as senior outside hitter Alex Zwettler led the team with 19 kills.

Zwettler added 12 digs for a double-double, the 45th of her Eastern career.

However, Zwettler was not done, as she hit another double-double against Morehead State, posting 12 kills to go along with 10 digs for her 46th career double-double.

The Panthers now have five remaining matches in the OVC, with the next three home at Lantz Arena before they finish their regular season on the road in two weeks against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.

Brad Kupiec can be reached at 581-7944 or bmkupiec@eiu.edu.

Erin Hake, a senior outside hitter, serves the ball against UT Martin Oct 26 at Lantz Arena. The Panthers lost to both Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State this weekend. (Audrey Sawyer

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