Volleyball starts on the road, stays on the road and won’t be coming back to Lantz Arena for some time to come.

The Panthers begin play this weekend as they head off to one of the three tournaments they compete in before the conference schedule begins.

The main reason Eastern is on the road for so long is the conference schedule is dictated to the team, and they usually play a few tournaments on the road to begin the season.

The first tournament the Panthers participate in is the Sea-Sun Invitational, as they take a sight-seeing trip to Maine in late summer as well as compete in a well balanced tournament.

The field includes Boston College, Maine, Portland State, Fairfield and Eastern.

But the team may be more concerned with the fact that after opening the season on Sept. 3 against Boston College, the Panthers won’t return to Charleston for over a month and, specifically, until Oct. 8 when they play Austin Peay.

In the meantime the volleyball team plays 15 games, four of which are in conference, and could have their season hang in the balance.

“I am a person who believes that you have got to go out and win on the road,” head coach Brenda Winkeler said. “On our own court you always have to be strong, but a team needs to make their season by winning on the road.”

After the Sea-Sun Invitational, the Panthers ease their travel load as they come back to what is, at least, their own state.

Their next two tournaments include the Saluki Invitational at Southern Illinois and the Blue Demon Invitational hosted by DePaul University.

But the time spent by the team within their home state ends after the tournament at DePaul, when they begin a four game road trip to open the Ohio Valley Conference season.

After spending a few weeks back in Illinois, the Panthers have to travel to Tennessee Tech, Austin Peay, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State before finally opening their season at home.

“It will be interesting to watch because sometimes there are teams that play better on the road than they do at home,” Winkeler said. “This is a team that has played some great matches on the road and at home, so this year we will have to focus early on playing well on the road.”

The experience this team returns and the younger players they have to blend into the fold, as well, could provide the team with a mixture of players that could be suitable to make a successful run out of all these games on the road.

“This is a team that has good depth and has players who can manage and a number of different positions,” Winkeler said. “That should come into play with all the games we have on the road, and will provide us with a number of players who we can rotate around.”

Beside seniors Shanna Ruxer and Erica Gerth, the Panthers boast of a few players who are young and can move around on the court.

With a player such as junior outside hitter and setter Sarah Niedospial, Winkeler has some players who can move around the court and provide some depth to the team in case they get worn out from all the travel and game time.

But all the travel that Eastern will have in the future, is not something that Winkeler foresees as a problem that this team can’t overcome.