In its win over Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday, Eastern’s volleyball team held the lead or a tie score for all but one point of the match, after SEMO won the first point of the second set.

The match featured just three tie scores, each 1-1 before the Panthers proceeded to pull away and defeat the Redhawks in consecutive sets.

If the Panthers win their last four matches this year, all of which are against OVC opponents that they have faced already this season, they will be in the OVC tournament.

Against SEMO this past Tuesday, senior outside hitter Alex Zwettler posted 11 kills to go along with 13 digs, giving her a team-leading 47th career double-double.

Junior setter Chrissie Albers also posted a double-double against the Redhawks, with 13 digs to go along to a game-high 35 assists. Albers’ 35 assists are also more than the entire Redhawk team had put together.

Freshman outside hitter Reynae Hutchinson led all players on the court Tuesday night with 12 kills, as no Redhawk player topped five put-aways.

Senior outside hitter Erin Hake posted an astounding .583 attack percentage. The SEMO leader in attack percentage only managed .250.

In fact, the Panthers, as a team, hit .500 in the first set, speaking to just how well they played against SEMO.

Senior middle blocker Jorie Dieter out-blocked the Redhawks, posting 8 blocks, including one solo, against just 4.5 total team blocks for SEMO.

Around the OVC

Elsewhere in OVC action this past weekend, Morehead State continued its conference success, beating Southeast Missouri State and Eastern.

Eastern Kentucky had mixed results, as the Colonels beat Eastern before losing to SEMO.

Tennessee State picked up a pair of OVC wins, beating Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State, respectively.

Austin Peay also won twice, defeating OVC rivals Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech.

Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech both lost twice, with each school falling to Tennessee State and Austin Peay. On Tuesday they played each other, with Tennessee Tech coming out on top.

Murray State and Tennessee- Martin didn’t play this weekend, but played each other on Tuesday night, with Murray State winning in four sets.

Southeast Missouri State was swept by Morehead State on Friday, bested EKU in five sets on Saturday, then got blanked again by Eastern on Tuesday.

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

Reynae Hutchinson a freshman outside hitter spikes the ball to Southeast Missouri Tuesday in Lantz Arena. Eastern beat Southeast Missouri 3-0. (Danny Damiani

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