The Eastern volleyball team could not quite edge Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the Panthers’ first home conference game of the season (19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 13-25).

Eastern’s back row was forced to step up as the Cougars rarely let the ball drop. Sophomore libero Ann Hughes notched 20 of the team’s 55 digs, attesting to the hustle that fueled Eastern throughout the four sets.

Eastern head coach Sam Wolinski said Hughes was a crucial part of Wednesday’s game play.

“(Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville has) always been very scrappy. I thought Ann Hughes did really well digging balls from them,” Wolinski said.

Wolinski said she emphasized the importance of not getting discouraged by Southern Illinois-Edwardsville’s digs. She said it is crucial that her team continued to be relentless hitters.

The Panthers did just that, earning just 10 less kills than the Cougars at 48. Freshman outside hitter Laurel Bailey had a team high of 13 kills.

After dropping the first set, the Panthers came into the second set with newfound energy. Junior setter Taylor Smith fired off a service ace followed by a kill by senior middle Allie Hueston to go on a short two-point run to start set two.

Eastern held the lead until the Cougars crept up to tie the score at 13 a piece with a kill by Dylynn Otte. Eight serves by sophomore setter Gina Furlin and kills by Smith, Bailey and senior outside hitter Maria Brown propelled the Panthers to the 25-18 win.

The Cougars’ Taylor Joens was a dominating force at the net with 16 kills. Hughes, Smith and Brown made for a solid back row with Smith recording her sixth double-double on the season.

The Cougars took control of set four early on, letting Eastern take the lead just once. Wolinski said her team was not expecting the tip kills Southern Illinois-Edwardsville was sending over the net.

“We just didn’t do a good enough job of being prepared. The setter got a couple good drops against us,” Wolinski said. “Those are just things that can be easily fixed though.”

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville setter Mallory Nicholson earned 10 assists and just one kill while setter Samantha Knight notched six.

The loss puts the Panthers at 0-3 in the conference, and the Cougars walk away with their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season. Wednesday’s match was the first of a four-match conference home stand for Eastern.

The Tennessee State Tigers will travel to Lantz Arena this Saturday for Eastern’s fourth conference match up. The Tigers enter the match at 1-2 in the conference.

Belmont currently leads the conference standings at 3-0 followed by Austin Peay and Murray State who are each  2-0.

Kaitlin Cordes can be reached at 581-2812 or krcordes@eiu.edu