The Panther volleyball team faces Ohio Valley Conference opposition when they play Southeast Missouri at home tonight in Lantz Arena.

The Panthers have five matches left after this match, all against OVC teams. They are currently in 7th place in the OVC, sitting a half game behind Tennessee State, which they play this weekend at home.

Eastern had two matches last weekend, against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State. The Panthers jumped out to early leads in both matches, but fell short. They lost in five sets against EKU after an early 2-0 advantage and lost in four sets to Morehead State after winning the first set.

Sophomore middle hitter Alison Berens said the loss to Eastern Kentucky was especially tough because the Panthers were one set away from victory.

“It was especially tough losing to EKU,” Berens said. “But we are confident that we will come out against SEMO the same way we played them last time.”

Eastern beat SEMO in straight sets in the two teams’ last meeting.

The Panthers played SEMO less than two weeks ago, on the Friday of Homecoming week. The last time the Panthers played two matches so close together against the same team, they beat Tennessee-Martin in both matches.

The Panthers will be looking to do the same thing against SEMO, as they swept the Redhawks in Cape Girardeau, Mo. 10 days ago and will play the Redhawks today in Lantz Arena.

Berens said the mentality of playing a team twice in 10 days gives a similar feel between the first and second times.

“Even though we just played them, we have the same mentality to go out and play our game,” Berens said.

After tonight’s match, the Panthers have two more weekends of regular season play. The Panthers play this weekend at home in Lantz Arena and on the road next weekend against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State to close out their conference schedule.

Berens said the Panthers are energized and ready to go out and put last weekend behind them.

“After this weekend, we are definitely ready to come back with fire tomorrow and this weekend,” Berens said. “We want to go out and better our record and standing in the OVC.”

The Panthers currently sit one spot out of the tournament, standing a half game behind Tennessee State. They will play TSU Saturday at Lantz Arena.

The first serve of today’s match is set for 7 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

Brad Kupiec can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected]