On a historic night for junior Erica Gerth, the Panthers made her celebration much sweeter with a four-game victory over Southeast Missouri State Wednesday night at Lantz Arena.

Gerth, a junior outside hitter from El Paso, Ill., became the 12th player in Panthers history to record 1,000 kills in her career. The kill came halfway through game two and helped the Panthers, down one game at the time, win three straight to dispose SEMO.

“The mark is nice, but the main thing is that we won the game and are playing our best volleyball of the season right now,” Gerth said.

Gerth is correct. The Panthers (5-11, 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference) are playing their best volleyball of the season as they won their second straight conference game.

However, the evening didn’t start well for the Panthers in game one. SEMO opened up an early lead and halted two comeback attempts by Eastern to win the game 30-19.

Game two was still in doubt until Gerth turned things around with two kills in a span of four points to give eastern a 19-15 lead en route to a 30-24 victory.

Head coach Brenda Winkeler said the key to the strong performance in game two was the ability to correct mistakes from the first game and play more relaxed.

“We tried to loosen up and play tactically,” Winkeler said. “We tried to do some things like set up blocks on the inside and stop the back attack. Two very simple things: they relaxed and played aggressive.”

The Panthers impressive play carried over in game three but SEMO was up to the task matching Eastern nearly point for point until a key substitution by Winkeler changed the course of the game. With the Panthers trailing 19-18, Winkeler called upon setter Leanne Kreps to add a spark, and the freshman did just that.

Kreps served five straight winners to give the Panthers a four point advantage and when she did finally lose her serve, three attack errors by SEMO and kill down the middle by Sarah Niedospial gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead.

“Leanne has showed very early in the season that she is a very good leader,” Winkeler said. “She comes out and she plays very aggressive and then she pushes other people to play aggressive.”

In game four, the Panthers took control early and never looked back as Eastern closed out SEMO with a 30-20 win. Niedospial was the star in finale with eight service winners including one ace. The sophomore put the Panthers above .500 in the OVC with a blistering serve that led to a service error by SEMO to end the game.

“Sarah is a good utility player,” Winkeler said. “She doesn’t do anything that is outstanding, but does the little things right. She is a steady player who is always there for a dig, or a pass or a block.”

Gerth had a game-high 23 kills and three service aces. After recording a school record 39 digs against Austin Peay, Gerth came back with 17 digs to lead Eastern.