The Eastern volleyball team will travel to Milwaukee, Wis. for the Panther Invitational in what promises to be an interesting weekend.

The Panthers will play three games in a matter of 24 hours, all against challenging opponents.

Eastern will open the tournament against Sacramento State at 5 p.m. Friday. It will be the first ever meeting between the two teams and Panthers head coach Brenda Winkeler knows the Hornets have the ability to sting.

“The key to defeating Sacramento State will be to stop their quick offense and their setters,” Winkeler said. “Their best player is (senior outside hitter)Kazmiera Imrie. She is very good on defense and we need to control her. Hopefully the middle of our offense will step up.”

Imrie averages a team-leading 3.38 kills per contest and has recorded nine service aces in 24 games. Sacramento State is 3-4 on the young season, but does return five starters from a team that went 24-11 last year. The Hornets finished second in the Big West Conference and made the NCAA Tournament in 2003, losing to eventual runner-up Stanford in the first round.

After the matchup with the Hornets, the Panthers’ steepest challenge will come in their Saturday matinee against an undefeated Wisconsin-Milwaukee squad. The Panthers are 7-0 this season after surviving a five-set match with DePaul on Sept. 9. Wisconsin-Milwaukee went to the NCAA Tournament last year for the fifth straight time and returns five starters. The Panthers will look to continue their home court dominance that has seen them win 66 of the last 71 matches at the Klotsche Center.

Junior outside hitter Karen Fruit leads the offense with 4.76 kills per game and a .326 overall shooting percentage. Senior Sarah Potts is second to Fruit with 3.46 kills, and senior Lindsey Spoden is their star setter averaging over 12 assists per contest.

All of this presents an appealing showdown for the Panthers who don’t have much to lose playing against an undefeated team.

“I see Wisconsin-Milwaukee a lot like Sacramento State,” Winkeler said. “They have a quick offense, and we have to stop their setters. We need to get our middle involved in defending.”

To close out the tournament, Eastern will renew a rivalry with Illinois State. The Panthers haven’t met the Redbirds in nearly 12 years. However, according to Winkeler, Eastern is no stranger to Illinois State.

“It’s been a long time since we played them, but a lot of our kids know their kids,” Winkeler said. “Mary Welch, Leanne Kreps and Erica Gerth either know or have played against them from club (leagues.) It should be fun.”

Illinois State is 3-4 this year and are coming off a 2-2 record at the Denver Tournament. The Redbirds started the tournament strong with wins over Miami of Ohio and host Denver but lost their next two matches in five games to Colorado and Central Florida. Laura Doombos, a sophomore outside hitter, is the Redbirds’ offensive star with 4.48 kills per game. Fellow sophomore Emily Kabbes averages 3.81 kills and leads ISU with a .373 hitting percentage. The Redbirds hit an impressive .220 as a team, but dig slightly over 12 shots a game.

If the Panthers are to succeed in the tournament Eastern will need to rely on Gerth. The junior from El Paso is coming off an all-tournament selection last week at the Mark Twain Hotels Invitational. It was Gerth’s second-straight all-tournament selection previously being named at the EIU Pepsi/ Super 8 Invitational.

“Hopefully we’ll get another solid performance from Erica,” Winkeler said. “We need her to keep up her hitting and continue to improve working hard.”

Besides the play of Gerth, freshman Mary Welch will play an important role for the Panthers. Despite being on campus for less than a month, Welch is second in kills to Gerth and has started against all seven opponents.

“Mary is a competitor,” Winkeler said. “Her progress this season has been outstanding.”

This is the Panthers third of four tournaments. Next week Eastern will head to Oregon for the Hilton Garden Inn/Viking Classic before starting Ohio Valley Conference play on Sept. 26.