Head Coach Sara Thomas and the Panthers start their season in the EIU Panther Classic as they are set to compete against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks and the Valparaiso Beacons on Friday, Aug. 25 in Lantz Arena.
“The overall team chemistry has grown much stronger,” Thomas talked about the improvements that the returners have made over the summer. “They’re a year older, and they know what to expect.”
On Saturday, Aug. 26, the Panthers will play the Akron Zips at 2:00 p.m. in Lantz Arena.
One week later, the Panthers will travel to Indianapolis, IN to play at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invite as they are set to compete against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and the UC Riverside Highlanders on Friday, Sept. 1 and IUPUI on Saturday, Sept. 2.
One week later, the Panthers will attend the Southern Illinois Saluki Bash as they play Arkansas State and Alabama A&M on Friday, Sept. 8 in Carbondale.
The Panthers will end the bash playing Southern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Carbondale.
Before the Panthers start their conference schedule, they will host the University of Missouri on Thursday, Sept. 14 and Friday, Sept. 15 in Lantz Arena.
Western Illinois University is the newest addition to the Ohio Valley Conference. Throughout the last nine weeks of the regular season, the OVC schedule will take place, and the OVC tournament will begin on Monday, Nov. 20.
Whoever is named the regular season champion will host the OVC tournament.
Coming off an overall record of 16-16 and an exhibition win against the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, senior middle blocker Emily Wilcox and senior defensive specialist/libero Christina Martinez Mundo are excited to play again.
“We’re coming off a big win, and we’ve been preparing for this all preseason,” Wilcox said.
“We’ve been putting in the work,” Mundo said. “Just seeing how far we’ve come in the past 10 weeks in preseason and seeing how we’ve applied the feedback we’ve been getting in practice into games is something really exciting.”
Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.
