Eastern’s volleyball team went on the road to try and clinch a spot in their first Ohio Valley Conference tournament in five years, but they were unable to do so, losing both matches against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.

The team had a chance to clinch a spot in the tournament with a pair of wins, but they lost twice, ending their season with a 15-16 overall record and a 7-11 mark in OVC play. This is an improvement from last season, when the Panthers went 11-20 overall and 4-13 in conference play.

Freshman outside hitter Reynae Hutchinson said the team was upset with their two losses to end the season.

“I think we’re all disappointed that we couldn’t come out with at least one win,” said Hutchinson. “Mostly because we know we can play better than we did.”

The team will now look toward next season, with five seniors graduating and three starters returning for next year.

Hutchinson said despite not making the tournament, the team is still glad to have improved over last year.

“I think this season was a step in the right direction,” Hutchinson said. “We had our up’s and down’s and I think we all would have liked to win a few more, but I think we’re all happy with how the season went overall.”

Junior libero Brittany Wallace said the team is disappointed about the end result, but they are happy with the improvement.

“It may not be the ending we had worked for and had wanted. Every single one of us wanted more than anything to be playing in the post season right now,” Wallace said. “At the same time, we did some great things this season, and its clear now that our program is heading in a new direction.”

Sophomore middle hitter Alison Berens said the team will miss its seniors, but they are looking to keep improving heading into next season.

“The seniors were a big part of this team, and they will be missed on and off the court by all of us,” Berens said. “Coming off this weekend I think we could have done a lot better, but I think this team still has a whole lot of potential just waiting to come out.”

This weekend featured the Panthers’ longest road trip of the year and an early start Saturday, but Wallace said the team is not making any excuses.

“It would be nice to blame those outside factors,” Wallace said. “But it all boils down to focusing and pushing through the circumstances, whatever they may be, and making sure we’re playing to our potential every point of every match.”

Junior setter Chrissie Albers said the team is looking forward to next season hoping to keep on improving.

“Our seniors will be tough to replace, but we have a bunch of underclassmen that show great potential,” Albers said. “We’ll use this time in the offseason to train and get better.”

Brad Kupiec can be reached at 581-7944 or < a href="mailto:bmkupiec@eiu.edu"> bmkupiec@eiu.edu.

Brittany Wallace, a junior libero, throws the ball up to serve Nov. 5, against Austin Peay at Lantz Arena. Eastern lost against Tennessee Tech on Friday and Jacksonville State on Saturday. (Danny Damiani

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