Volleyball is a game of runs, and that was the downfall of the Eastern volleyball team Tuesday night.

The Panthers continued their road trip with a matchup against Indiana State, and it ended just like the past three matches have — in a loss.

Eastern fell in four sets to the Sycamores for a fourth-straight loss and second consecutive non-conference loss.

The Panthers got off to a quick start, and this loss felt closer in the beginning before just losing grip.

That has been a similar trend for Eastern all season long, as the team falls just short in its matches.

The Panthers shined brightest to start the match with a 25-19 win in the opening set.

Eastern was sparked by a mid-set run after redshirt junior Josie Winner gave the team a 7-6 lead in that first set.

The lead later grew to seven with a kill by sophomore Abby Knight to put the Panthers ahead, 17-10.

Eastern never looked back in that set from there, but the team just could not keep that going.

The Sycamores held off a late three-point rally from the Panthers to take the second set, 25-18.

Indiana State followed with 25-19 wins in the last two sets.

The loss dropped the Panthers to 3-14 on the season, but the team continues to grow through each game.

Freshman Lindsey Powers is a prime example of the growth on this team, as she led the Panthers with 16 digs against Indiana State.

Sophomore Taylor Smith did not add to her Division I leading triple-double mark, but she did add another double-double to her season stat sheet.

Smith posted 22 assists and 13 digs against the Sycamores, and she was joined by junior Maria Brown, who added 14 kills and 11 digs.

Winner joined Brown and Smith in the double-double category with 10 kills and 10 digs of her own.

The Panthers have had small sparks in these kinds of losses all season, and it has offered plenty of hope for the future.

Freshman Katie Sommer has also continued to get better with each match, adding four blocks against Indiana State.

Sommer came into the match tied for fourth in OVC play with 1.00 block-per-set.

The Panthers now turn their focus back to conference play with two more road games over the weekend.

The first test comes against Southeast Missouri State Friday night, followed by the final game of the road trip against Tennessee-Martin Saturday afternoon.

Such as Eastern, both of those teams are winless against Ohio Valley Conference opponents.

The Panthers have posed as a better road team thus far, earning all three wins away from Lantz Arena.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].