Eastern fans cheered as they said goodbye to Chandra Hendsley on senior night, but had little else to be happy about.

The Panthers played their final home matches of the season against the Morhead State Eagles and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. On Friday, the Eagles beat Eastern in three games, 30-17, 30-25 and 30-20. On Saturday, the Colonels defeated the Panthers in four games, 25-30, 30-26, 30-25 and 31-29.

In Friday’s match, Eastern cut an early deficit to 13-10 in the first game with a service error by Jennifer Kennedy. The Eagles then went on to outscore the Panthers 10-2 behind Cherelle Lampkin’s six straight points.

In the second game, Erica Gerth served an ace to tie the game at 12. After that, the Eagles scored eight of the next 10 points. The Eagles ended the game with three kills by Diana Zipp and Kennedy after a series of unsuccessful Eastern rallies.

In game three, the Panthers took their first lead of the match since game one with a service ace by Erica Gerth. With the service ace, the Panthers had a 12-11 lead. After this, the Eagles went on a 15-6 run to close out the match.

Leading the way for the Panthers was Megan Kennedy and Mary Welch. Kennedy hit a team-high .320 and also had five block assists. Kennedy, Zipp and Casie Garland all had strong performances for Morhead State. Kennedy and Zip had 15 and 11 kills each.

“I thought that we played well defensively tonight. We went up against one of the top defensive teams in the league and were only down six digs to them 61-67,” she said.

The match against Eastern Kentucky started off well for the Panthers. Four different Panthers served an ace in the first game. Hensley’s ace put the Panthers up 18-14. Leanne Krep’s service ace, along with a kill by Erica Gerth, gave the Panthers a 26-19 lead. The Colonels came back and made the score 24-27. The Panthers secured the win with an attack error and a Welch kill, Hensley said

In the second game, the Colonels started off the game with a 6-1 run. Down 21-29, the Panthers made one last run at the game. Eastern scored five straight by blocks and a service ace by Gerth. Colonels’ Kasha Brozek then ended the game with a kill.

In the finalle, the Panthers held late leads of 24-21 and 26-24. With Eastern holding a 28-27 lead, Hensley’s serve landed in the net and Gerth sailed a back row attack out of bounds. Welsh tied the game at 29 with a kill, but Liz Guard Lesley Aldrige ended the match for the Panthers.

Leading the way for the Panthers was Welch, Gerth and Kennedy. Welch recorded a career high with 13 digs. Gerth had 16 kills and 31 digs in the match while Kennedy chipped in with 14 digs. Aldrige led the Colonels with 16 kills while Guard added 15, hitting at a .440 clip. Jessica Sabath had a team high 27 digs and 13 kills.

After the game, Winkeler said

” We made too many unforced errors and overpasses,unfortunately in rally scoring, that is a point for the other team.”

Despite the loss, the Panthers are still eligible for postseason tournament, but they must win out and get some help. They travel to Tennesee-Martin and Murray State next weekend.