The Eastern volleyball team has a lot of versatility, which makes them successful.

The Panthers got back on track on Saturday by defeating Austin Peay. Eastern had lost two games in a row prior to that.

Eastern has a 4-2 record which puts them tied for third in the Ohio Valley Conference Standings.

Tennessee State is also 4-2 and is third place with Eastern. Tennessee State is currently on a four game win streak after losing their first two matches to Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.

Tennessee State got their first win against Belmont who is 5-1 right now and in second place.

Belmont started OVC play strong by grabbing two wins in two days against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State. Since the loss to Tennessee State, Belmont has defeated Eastern, Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.

The Bruins are set up for a match-up on Friday when they take on undefeated Murray State.

Murray state remains undefeated in OVC play

The Racers are 6-0 in OVC play and sit atop the conference standings. Murray State has not only dominated in OVC play but are 16-1 overall on the season.

Murray State was picked to repeat as champions of the OVC at the beginning of the season.

Multiple teams in OVC have identical records

There are three teams with 3-3 records. If teams have identical records at the end of the season it will come down to who won when the two teams played each other.

Southeast Missouri is one of the three teams with the 3-3 record. SEMO has had some luck as of late as they are riding a two-game win streak into their match on Friday with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Tennessee-Martin is also 3-3, along with Morehead State. If the season were to end today, the Morehead State Eagles would hold the tie-breaker between UT Martin and Southeast Missouri, as the Eagles defeated both schools.

Bottom teams struggle in beginning of OVC play

While some schools have had some success and some have had a lot of success, some teams have really struggled to get into the win column.

Jacksonville State is currently 2-4. Unlike most schools, the Gamecocks are still playing non-conference games.

The Gamecocks won four matches in a row, but only two of them count towards their conference record. That four-game win streak was shut down very quickly by Tennessee State and Belmont, as both prevailed over Jacksonville State 3-0.

Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky are also 2-4 in OVC play. Tennessee Tech had a .500 record at 2-2 before the weekend, but two losses dropped them to their current 2-4 record.

Eastern Kentucky started the season strong at 2-1, but the Colonels have lost three in a row since then.

Austin Peay had rough start to the season started 0-4, but have recently found the win column by defeating SIUE to get their record to 1-5.

SIUE is also 1-5 through the first six games of OVC play and puts them in dead last in the conference. Their one win came in the first match of the season against Jacksonville State.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]