Eastern freshman outside hitter Madison Barr said she and her teammates were disappointed in the Panthers’ third-place finish at the Panther Challenge.

Despite the unsuccessful finish at the tournament, Barr and the Panthers (3-4) get back to action this weekend on the road at the Ole Miss Magnolia Classic in Oxford, Miss.

This is Eastern’s final tournament on the 2008 schedule before Ohio Valley Conference play. The Panthers will begin the tournament against Mississippi (2-4) at 1 p.m. today.

Besides Mississippi, Eastern will face stiff competition from Southern Methodist University (4-3) and Georgia Tech (5-1).

“We know it’s going to be tough competition,” Barr said. “Obviously, as a team we want to win, but our main focus is to improve.”

Eastern continued to struggle at the EIU Panther Challenge by losing the first set against Western Illinois and Toledo and eventually losing the matches.

This season, Eastern’s three-match triumphs have the Panthers winning the first set. However, in its four defeats, Eastern lost the opening set to its opponents.

“It’s something we focus on in practice,” senior libero Laura Welsh said of playing well in the first set. “We’re focusing on having a fast start. When we are ahead, we play with more confidence.”

Eastern worked on completing sets strong with 22-22 drills in practice this week, which is a drill where a simulated set is tied at 22.

Welsh said the Panthers practiced these drills excessively this week to prepare for tight sets.

Barr said ball handling was also addressed thoroughly this week.

She said she hopes the team will carry the lessons learned at last weekend’s tournament and apply them to the matches at the Ole Miss Magnolia Classic.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” Barr said of Eastern’s 58 tournament errors. “We learned we control our own destiny.”

Welsh said a way to win some matches this weekend will depend on how Eastern’s freshmen play. Freshmen libero Brittney Wallace, setter Hannah Deterding and middle blocker Melanie Boykins had solid performances at their home tournament.

“I think they’re going to have a big impact in this upcoming tournament,” Welsh said. “It’s great to see the freshmen contribute early and they will only get better.”

The Panthers play Southern Methodist at 4 p.m. today and Georgia Tech on 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].