Just four games remain in the regular season for Eastern’s volleyball team, and the team is currently sitting in a tie for eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 4-10 record.
This comes after the Panthers won 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11) in their first game against the Little Rock Trojans Friday night in Groniger Arena.
The team would then be swept in three sets on Saturday afternoon (11-25, 22-25, 23-25).
Saturday was Senior Day for Eastern’s volleyball team, a day meant to celebrate the accomplishments of the seniors and graduate players. However, one thing has stood out from the weekend’s contests: The Panthers’ young players stepped up.
Freshman outside hitter Destiny Walker recorded a career-high 27 kills in Friday’s matchup. Walker also recorded 55 kills in her last three contests.
Sophomore middle blocker Julia Stanev also made her presence felt on Saturday, recording a team-high five blocks after a four-block performance on Friday against the Trojans.
Junior outside hitter Matilda Dahlström is third on the team in kills this season for Eastern with 130. Dahlström had a strong showing this weekend with 14 kills and seven blocks on Friday, followed up by five kills and another block on Saturday.
Dahlström is in her first season with the Panthers after two seasons at Hillsborough Community College in Florida.
“The sky’s the limit for this young core,” senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Flynn said. “We have a lot of young talent, and I’m really glad that after I leave, this program is going to continue to grow and continue to be a championship team. It’s really exciting to see.”
Eastern’s head coach Sara Thomas echoed that sentiment and credited last season’s 28-5 season to the attention given to developing the younger players.
“The success we had last year was from the previous three years of focusing on training and development of players, not just for the current year, but long term,” Thomas said. “That will never change as long as I’m head coach, [and] we will continue to develop everybody to [help] prepare them not only for their role this year, but for next year.”
Only eight teams can make the OVC tournament. The Panthers currently sit in a tie for eighth with the Tennessee State Tigers.
Eastern will play the Tigers in the final two games of their regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 18 and Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Thomas emphasized how important their upcoming series against Morehead State and Tennessee State are.
“We’ve got to keep winning,” Thomas said. “Morehead is in fifth, and so if we can go in and split or maybe even win both games, that would be sick. But then Tennessee State comes here, and that’s going to be a really crucial weekend. It could come down to that series [for who makes the OVC playoffs], which makes it really interesting. I love a good, competitive season, especially when you’re coming from behind, and now that we’ve got our players back [healthy], we’re starting to play [well] at the right time.”
Eastern heads to Kentucky to face the Morehead State Eagles on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 in a crucial doubleheader that will set the stage for the Panthers’ final two games of the regular season against Tennessee State.
Matthew Posner can be reached at 581-2812 or at maposner@eiu.edu.
