For coach Julie Allen and the Eastern volleyball team, the timing could not be drawn up any better.

Well, at least in some respects.

Belmont, the second-worst team in the Ohio Valley Conference, will be next up on Eastern’s itinerary, which, unfortunately for the Panthers, does not get any less complicated in November.

But, all the same, the Panthers admittedly embrace a consistent mindset, regardless of whether they are sharing the court with first place Austin Peay, or, on the opposite end of the continuum, Eastern Kentucky.

“If people are overestimating everyone in our conference you are going to get beat,” said Eastern head coach Julie Allen. “Every one of our opponents does a really good job fighting and pushing through, and I think that’s how we, as well as other ones, are able to sneak some matches.”

Although the Panthers are sitting right in front of Tennessee Tech, who are just one game behind them in the standings, Eastern is in search of some personal space.

The Panthers have been straddling the fringes of postseason eligibility for quite some time, remaining a half-game back of Jacksonville State.

Putting forth a constant, animated effort on a nightly basis, without getting fatigued, can be a trial for Eastern, especially in the midst of a playoff push.

“This conference is tough,” Allen said. “But we have a really well-conditioned team. Not only does our strength coach work them out so that they are lifting well, but their conditioning level is done well.”

This protracted effort for a playoff spot, to put it lightly, has not wounded their self-assurances of extending the season well into November.

It is considered a rather tenable and pragmatic target for Allen, despite a 3-2 loss to Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

Similar to the Panthers’ losses to South Dakota State and Southeast Missouri, Eastern stammered in the deciding fifth set to SIUE, the same team it swept a month and five days earlier.

The issues, Allen said, stem from the team’s youth, as well as some unbridled anxiety.

“With each game we get a little bit better; we are not getting blown out,” Allen said. “We competed through it. We have just got to keep practicing and believing that what we have done in the past needs to stick through, as opposed to any kind of change.”

The Panthers aspire to reproduce their triumphs from last weekend, when they host Belmont at home on Saturday.

In the fifth set of a 3-2 victory on Tennessee State, a group of four Belmont players, all of whom combined for 60 digs that match, perked up a defense that has permitted the second-highest opponent hitting percentage in the conference.

This quartet of Belmont defenders?

Seniors Haley Sullivan and Maggie Mullins, in conjunction with freshmen Taylor Floyd and Peyton Kelley, shouldered much of the responsibility for three straight Bruins’ wins to seal the match.

It was only after a five-point loss in set two that Belmont began to reshuffle its approach.

Like few other moments this season, the Bruins were able to diagnose the issues that plagued them most, as the Bruins bandaged up the defensive deficiencies in the first and second sets, namely their inability to temper the Tigers’ scoring runs.

Tom O’Connor can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].