Most of the time, a team ends up winning a game when it outplays its opponent.

This was not the case Saturday afternoon when the Eastern volleyball team lost to Austin Peay in straight sets.

The Panthers played perhaps their best match of the season, having their highest kills per set average of any match. It was the first time this season that they had both more kills and a higher hitting percentage than their opponents in a single match.

On paper, the Panthers seemed to outperform the Governors in every facet of the game except one: errors.

The Panthers made 37 total errors compared to Austin Peay’s 28.

In the first two sets, in which they were outscored by a total of four points, the Panthers had five service errors. Eastern head coach Julie Allen said the errors were not the entire difference but were a factor.

“It doesn’t win or lose the match, but it is definitely a mood killer when you have so many service errors,” Allen said. “There’s a few points that we’re missing, but as the team gets more confident, we realize that we outworked (Austin Peay).”

They did outwork Austin Peay for most of the match and played more consistently on a set-to-set basis. Eastern had 15 kills in the first set, 15 in the second and 14 in the third. The Governors had 15 in the first, then 14 in the second and 11 in the third.

But as Eastern’s kills remained consistent, its errors increased.

Austin Peay recorded six service aces in the three-set match, tied for the third most aces for an Eastern opponent in a three-set match this season.

The errors that showed up on the stat sheet only tell part of the story, as there were some mental errors as well.

Austin Peay caught the Panther defense off guard a number of times in the match by tipping the ball over the blockers or quick-setting over the net, dropping it in front of the back row.

Allen credited Austin Peay’s execution and planning on these plays.

Even with the errors it is still difficult to pinpoint how exactly Eastern lost the match, especially in straight sets. The Panthers played under control, attacked efficiently, had more blocks and had the same number of assists and digs as Austin Peay.

Family Weekend at Eastern led to a large and enthusiastic crowd, and nearly the entire football team stopped in to watch the end of the match before they headed to O’Brien Field to take on Tennessee Tech, ballooning the crowd even more.

But somehow Austin Peay won. Eastern will travel to take on Southern Illinois Edwardsville in a weekday matchup Wednesday night and attempt to pick up its first conference win.

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