It is game week for the Eastern volleyball team, which will open its season at home on Friday.

In fact, the team will be playing three matches this weekend as part of the EIU Panther Invitational. 

As the preseason enters its final days and the Panthers continue their preparation, head coach Julie Allen said she has been pleased with their progress since the Aug. 17 exhibition against Saint Louis.

“I feel like our players have done a good job at making really mindful practices,” Allen said. “They are taking note of what we want to correct and correcting it right away so we can be the best team out there.”

After the exhibition, Allen said that the potential lineups for this weekend were up in the air and that she was pleased with the level of healthy competition among the players. One week later, not much has changed in that regard. 

“They’re still making it really tough,” Allen said. “That’s just an exciting time for me as a coach that this team is continuously pushing their level of comfort and pushing that drive to get better.”

She also said that she hopes to set a lineup sooner rather than later but is not forcing anything. 

“I want to let this week play out and see who is going to rise up when it comes down to it,” Allen said.

But the lineup on Friday may not necessarily be the lineup throughout the year, according to Allen. 

“What we’d really like to do is let each player progress throughout the week and showcase that they deserve to be given an opportunity to start,” Allen said. “The next week we will start all over again. If you earned a spot, congratulations. Great job. You’ve got to maintain it through the next week. Its not just given to you.”

Allen said that she believes this approach helps drive the players to want to improve from week to week and match to match. 

Looking ahead to the invitational, the Panthers will face South Dakota State, Memphis and Drake. 

South Dakota State will be the Panther’s first opponent on Friday. The Jackrabbits finished 6-23 and their 3-13 conference record placed them in eighth in the Summit League, one spot ahead of last-place Western Illinois. 

Memphis had a better overall record of 11-19 but did not fare as well in conference play. Their 4-14 record in the American Athletic Conference put them in last place. They also finished the season on a seven-game losing streak.

The only team taking part in the invitational that posted a winning record last season is Drake. The Bulldogs went 21-15 in 2018 and finished sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference. 

All three matches will take place in Lantz Arena. The South Dakota State game will be the only one for the Panther’s on Friday. It will start at 6 p.m. 

Eastern will play Memphis and Drake on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. respectively. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]