After falling to the Tennessee Volunteers, 33-17, the Eastern rugby team dropped 0-6 on the season.

Eastern coach Frank Graziano said this team is still staying positive and focused despite the winless start to the season.

“In the postgame, we still had a good chat,” he said. “Typically, my postgame chats are five minutes, but we talked for 15 minutes after this game. Certainly the girls on the team at least understand where their deficiencies are. Our practices have been good, so it appears we are learning it.”

Graziano said the team is still uncomfortable on game day because they are getting thrown into an unknown every game.

After the Panthers took a 7-0 lead against the Volunteers on a blocked kick by freshman Sara Fisher and a return by red-shirt freshman Emalie Thornton, the Volunteers answered with a try of their own, making it 7-5.

Leading for only the second time this season, Graziano said the mood on the team was pretty good at that point.

“If you look at the film, half the team was jumping up and down,” he said. “Obviously, they were very excited about doing such positive things. We were still winning with about six minutes left in the half.”

Graziano said the mood was also very positive at halftime because the Panthers still had a chance to win the game.

After two quick scores by the Volunteers, Graziano said the team was struggling to recover, but he took some positives from the game when he was watching the film.

With three games left in the Panthers season, Graziano said this week they are going to talk about the positives and what they did well to produce those positives.

Freshman Alivia Smithers had a good game, Graziano said. Smithers registered 19 tackles on the day, leading the team.

“She is starting to feel for what she is doing in there,” Graziano said.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or rjreynolds@eiu.edu.