The Eastern volleyball team played in its final two road matches of the regular season over the weekend, dropping a pair of matches to Tennessee Tech. 

The Panthers lost both matches 3-1 to the Golden Eagles and are now 3-13 in conference play. Tennessee Tech is now 8-7. 

The match Friday saw Tennessee Tech win the first set 25-18 and Eastern taking the second set 25-23.  

The Panthers dropped the next two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-19 to lose the match. 

Eastern outhit Tennessee Tech in the second set .179 to .143, but were outhit in the match .267 to .146.

Outside hitter Danielle Allen led the Panthers with a game-high 24 kills in the match. Ashley Sharkus had 16 digs in the match and Summerlyn Smith added 42 assists. 

The Golden Eagles had three players with double figures in kills, led by Taylor Dorsey and Madeline Furtado with 14 kills each. 

Saturday’s match also started with Tennessee Tech winning the first set and Eastern taking the second. Both sets ended with scores of 25-22. 

Additionally, the Golden Eagles won the next two sets 25-19 and 25-21 to win the match and the weekend series. 

Allen once again led the Panthers in kills, this time with 22. For the second-straight match, Allen was the only Eastern player with double figures in kills. 

Middle blocker Kameryn Sillmon added 8 kills and 6 block assists in the match while Sharkus and Kylie Michael had 8 digs apiece. 

Furtado had 14 kills again to lead the Golden Eagles with Dorsey finishing second on the team with 11 kills. They had two players with double figures in digs. McKenna Young had 13 digs and Ashley Hand added 11. Hand also had a game-high 52 assists. 

Eastern will be back at home this weekend for two matches against Austin Peay to close out the regular season. 

The Panthers are currently in eighth in the OVC, occupying the final spot for the upcoming OVC Tournament. 

Austin Peay is in second place with a 10-3 conference record this season.

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or ajtumino@eiu.edu.