Struggling on the road all season long, the Eastern volleyball team ‘s woes continued while they were away from Lantz Arena. The Panthers lost matches to Samford and Jacksonville State over the weekend as they fell to seventh place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The trip to Alabama started off well with the Panthers hitting .350 en route to a 30-28 win in game one against the Bulldogs. Junior outside hitter Erica Gerth was the Panthers offensive star recording 10 of her team-high 19 kills in the opening game.

Samford quickly recovered in game two by jumping out to a 10-7 lead, but the Panthers closed the gap and tied the game at 13. The two teams were still tied at 17 before Samford went on a 6-0 run to close out the Panthers and win the game two 30-22.

Eastern had a great shot to take control of the match in game three, but a late breakdown cost the Panthers the game and ultimately the match. Eastern had game point and were serving at 29-26 before Samford erupted and stunned the Panthers by winning the final five points and the game.

A service ace by Samford’s red-shirt freshman Shannon Smith and blocks by senior outside hitter Alyssa Whitehead and senior middle hitter Stefanie Pickett tied the game at 29. A hitting error by the Panthers gave Samford game point and a setting error on Eastern put the Bulldogs up two games to one.

“On Friday, we had a great opportunity to win the match,” Panthers head coach Brenda Winkeler said. “We were up 29-26 in game three, but we had a couple of unforced errors and lost momentum and gave Samford the game.”

With the tide clearly turned, Samford jumped out to an 8-1 lead in game four. The Bulldogs opened up a lead as big as 11 at 17-6, before the Panthers mounted a minimal comeback to come within seven at 25-17 but they would get no closer. A kill on match point by Smith gave Samford the match with a 30-22 victory.

Despite the loss, the Panthers had four players with a hitting percentage of over .240, including a team-high .462 by middle hitter Shanna Ruxer.

“Shanna had a great night,” Winkeler said. “She’s doing well (this season) and being an upperclassmen she is playing more consistent than the underclassmen. She doesn’t make some of the mistakes a younger player would.”

The Panthers as a team hit .213 and Winkeler noted that percentage would have been higher of it wasn’t for the Bulldogs stellar defense.

“Samford dug a lot of balls, Winkeler said. “Our defense struggled and we had trouble with ball control.”

After the loss to Samford, the Panthers stayed in Alabama for a Saturday matinee against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Unfortunately for Eastern, its losing streak hit six matches in a row as Jacksonville State swept the Panthers 30-22, 30-24 and 30-14.

The tandem of Suzi Terrell and Christina Cary proved to much for the Panthers who dropped to 6-17 and 3-5 in the OVC.

Terrell, an outside hitter transfer from the University of Cincinnati, recorded double figure kills for the third match in a row with 12 against Eastern. She also hit .381 and had two block assists. Cary matched Terrell with 12 kills and was second on the team with a .474 hitting percentage.

“Jacksonville State is a very good team,” Winkeler said. “Their losses this season (Murray State, Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State) have all come against the conference’s top teams. They have a lot of different weapons and their offense was very good.”

The Panthers hit just .148 and were led by Gerth, Kara Sorenson and Mary Welch who each had eight kills.

In just her third start of the season, freshman setter Leanne Kreps responded with 24 assists, three defensive digs and two service aces.

“Leanne always comes in and adds leadership,” Winkeler said. “She did good except in the third game when our offense struggled, but she had many good sets in the three games.”

Eastern will next be in action this weekend for a pair of OVC games against Murray State and Tennessee-Martin.