The Panthers will head to Edwardsville to play Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville after splitting a weekend series at home.

The Panthers are now 8-16 overall and 5-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference, and are hoping to start a new win streak after their four game streak was broken on Saturday.

Last season, the Panthers were down 2-0 in sets before winning three straight to take the match.

Four Panthers recorded double-digit kills, including junior Emily Franklin and sophomore Reynae Hutchinson.

Franklin scored 11 kills and six digs while Hutchinson scored 14 kills and seven digs.

Also helping the Panther offense in the come-from-behind victory was freshman Katie Kirby, who recorded her third kill-dig double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville proved to be a tough opponent, however, as they had two players with double-digit kills, Julia Whitfield and Jessica Hermann.

Whitfield earned a double-double off 13 kills and 11 digs while Hermann had 11 kills.

The Panthers are anticipating another tough match from the new conference opponent with Tuesday’s upcoming match-up being just the fifth ever meeting between the two teams.

With the Panthers’ win last season, the series is now tied at two overall, while the five-set affair was the first time that a match between Eastern and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville has gone the distance.

The Panthers would like to start another win streak and finish out the season strong.

Head coach Kate Price said these are going to be key matches as the season comes to an end and it is very important that every match is taken into consideration and that no opponent should be overlooked, despite the past history.

This weekend saw strong performances from Hutchinson, Franklin, and junior Alison Berens.

Hutchinson recorded her 12th career kill-dig double-double with a combined 19 kills and 26 digs.

Franklin had 24 kills and 14 digs in the weekend split and Berens finished the weekend split with 15 kills and two digs.

The Panthers return to action this coming Tuesday evening, traveling to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville for a 6 p.m. OVC match.

Lenny Arquilla can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected]