Volleyball loses to Cougars Wednesday, starts conference schedule 0-3

Adam+Tumino+%7C+The+Daily+Eastern+News%0AEastern+libero+Madison+Cunningham+lunges+in+front+of+teammate+Sarah+Paluch+to+return+a+serve+in+Easterns+match+against+Austin+Peay+on+Sept.+28.+The+Panthers+lost+the+match+in+straight+sets.

Adam Tumino | The Daily Eastern News Eastern libero Madison Cunningham lunges in front of teammate Sarah Paluch to return a serve in Eastern’s match against Austin Peay on Sept. 28. The Panthers lost the match in straight sets.

Adam Tumino, Volleyball Reporter

After opening conference play with a pair of relatively close matches at home Sept. 27 and 28, the Eastern volleyball team went on the road to play Southern Illinois Edwardsville Wednesday.

The Panthers left the court in Edwardsville as 0-3 in OVC play, losing in straight sets for the third straight match.

Eastern played perhaps its best match of the season against Austin Peay Sept. 28, recording more kills and blocks than the Governors and also had a better hitting percentage.

Against Southern Illinois Edwardsville, the Panthers had more blocks than their opponents but had just 22 kills, half the number from the Austin Peay match. The Panthers were also out hit by the Cougars, who had a .290 hitting percentage compared to Eastern’s .050 percent.

The match got off to a rough start in the first set, in which the Cougars went on a 15-0 run at one point and won the set 25-7. It was Eastern’s biggest deficit in a single set this season.

Eastern head coach Julie Allen said she thinks the Panthers had a hard time dealing with something that happens to all teams, especially young ones: Nerves.

She said the more experienced Cougars kept persisting, and Eastern had a tough time adjusting.

“We got a little nervous and quiet as opposed to getting louder and fighting. That was a first for us, but it does happen to a lot of teams,” Allen said. “It’s something you’ve got to learn as a young player, that you have to be able to stop (the nerves) through over communication and supporting your teammates.”

Offensively, the Panthers were unable to carry forward their success from the Austin Peay Match, in which they averaged a season-high 14.67 kills per set. On Wednesday night, the Panthers averaged just 7.33 kills per set.

Allen said part of the Eastern strategy is to play aggressively and hit hard, but the team needs to limit errors. Eastern had five more attack errors and 12 more total errors than its opponent.

“I’m proud of (the team) for taking risks, but we took too many risks back-to-back-to-back,” Allen said. “(Southern Illinois Edwardsville) did a good job at putting us in awkward situations and we tried to still be aggressive with it, a little too much.”

Eastern will be on the road again Saturday when they take on Belmont at 2 p.m. The Bruins are also 0-3 in OVC play so far but have the worst overall record in the OVC (1-17) and have lost 14 matches in a row.

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