Just when Eastern thought it was headed in the right direction, the Panthers suffered a three game sweep at the hands of Loyola Tuesday.

The Panthers were coming off their best match of the season with their highest hitting percentage of the season (.367) in a three game sweep at Tennessee State Friday.

Eastern (8-20) then in turn put out its worst hitting performance Tuesday, hitting a terrible .037 on its way to a 12-30, 22-30, 18-30 loss.

To go with the Panthers’ 28 team kills, they added 24 errors in 108 attempts. Eastern had two players with a negative hitting percentage and had a team high .167 from Mary Welch and Jessica Ackerman.

The Eastern defense also struggled to find its game as Loyola turned in a .400 hitting percentage with 48 kills and only 12 errors.

In front of her hometown crowd, Welch was the team leader in kills with eight. Junior outside hitter Erica Gerth could not get anything going with just seven kills and four errors for a .088 hitting percentage.

Heather Redenbo lead Eastern in digs with six, while Leanne Kreps had seven assists and Megan Kennedy lead in blocks with three.

The Ramblers brought a well balanced attack with Jorie Miguel having a match high 12 kills with four other teammates recording five or more kills.

The Rambler defense was also all over the floor, recording 48 digs compared to Eastern’s 25. Loyola also had nine team blocks.

Eastern returns to Lantz Arena this weekend for its home finales against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.