Eastern’s volleyball team’s biggest challenge so far will be Friday when the Panthers play host to Morehead State.

Like Eastern (5-2), the Eagles (7-2, 2-0) are on a win streak. Morehead has won five matches in a row, the most recent on Wednesday against West Virginia. Morehead has already beaten some formidable opponents within the Ohio Valley Conference. On Sept. 14, the Eagles defeated Tennessee-Martin, which is an early favorite to win the league title. The squad is out to its second best start in school history.

Morehead has plenty of weapons to throw at the Panthers, but head coach Brenda Winkeler is hoping to neutralize a couple of those.

At the forefront is sophomore outside hitter Charelle Lampkins who was second in the OVC with 4.21 kills per gameWednesday. Lampkins also leads the league in digs, making her a force on offense and defense.

Outside hitters Amy Almond (3.83 kills per game) and Jessica Wood (3.67) are ranked fourth and fifth on the conference leader board in that category.

“What we try to do is to key on their top two players and take them out,” Winkeler said. “You hope that you can do that and take your chances with the rest of the team, hoping that no one else steps up.”

For the Panthers, it’s the conference opener after Saturday’s match with Austin Peay State was postponed. The contest will be made up some time in November.

The key will be blocking and passing. Both are areas Eastern has been trying to improve upon in recent matches. The Eagles are the best passing team in the conference (13.89 assists per game) with the Panthers close behind (13.61) in second.

“In volleyball passing is the biggest thing,” Winkeler said.

“That’s going to definitely be a key against them.

“We have to be consistent there. It’s where the whole offensive flow starts.”

The passing duties will be shared between senior Rebecca Ooyen and freshman Lindsay Perkins. Perkins is ranked third in the conference in passing with 10 per game, behind Morhead’s Casie Garland (11.59), who is also a freshman. Tennessee-Martin junior Lindsey Vicknair leads the conference with 12.08.