After losing back-to-back games, the Eastern volleyball team has won three straight to jump to 6-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play, placing them in second place with Belmont.

Eastern had perfect weekend last weekend defeating Tennessee-Martin and Southeast Missouri.

Up next for the Panthers will be Austin Peay on Friday, and Murray State on Saturday.

The Panthers got by Austin Peay who has struggled all season long to get wins sitting in last place at 1-7, But Murray State has dominated all season long and is at the top of the conference at 8-0.

Murray State has only lost one match all season and are 18-1 overall.

Belmont is in second place with the Panthers right now but hold the tiebreaker because Belmont defeated Eastern Oct. 3 in Nashville, Tenn.

The Bruins will host UT-Martin and SEMO this weekend. The Skyhawks and Redhawks are both 3-5 and are in seventh place in the OVC.

Tennessee State sits behind Eastern and Belmont in third place with a 5-3 record. Tennessee State will play SEMO on Friday, and UT-Martin on Saturday.

Morehead State has a .500 record at 4-4 and is in eighth place in the OVC. Morehead State will host Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech this weekend.

Both schools have struggled so far this year and have losing records. The Golden Eagles are 3-5 and Jacksonville State is 2-6.

SIUE has also struggled this year and also have a losing record. There are 3-5 just like Tennessee Tech, UT-Martin, and SEMO.

The teams in the OVC have played half the season and have eight matches remaining before the conference tournament, which is held in the top team’s home arena.

Senior libero for the Panthers Stephanie Wallace said that the Panthers have to keep playing like how they did this past weekend to continue to have success the rest of the season.

Wallace is leading the Panthers in digs with 390 this season. Freshman Taylor Smith has the second most with 198.

Sophomore Allie Hueston is leading the Panthers in kills with 203 and Chelsea Lee is right behind her with 202. Eastern has six players with over 100 kills.

The Panthers set the goal to not only host the OVC tournament, but win it as well. These final eight games will determine if they can or not.

In the remaining eight games the Panthers will play four teams who currently have losing record, and two with .500 records. They will play just two who hold winning records as of right now.

The main focus for the Panthers as it has been all season is to just get one percent better every hit.

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