The Eastern volleyball team picked up its second win of the season Monday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Murray State on the road.

It was the second win in the last three matches for the Panthers after an 0-9 start to the season.

Junior Danielle Allen was the top performer for the Panthers Monday with a career-high 21 kills, leading all players in the match, while also recording a game-high hitting percentage of .486.

Eastern senior Laurel Bailey finished second on the team with 13 kills while Murray State was led by freshman Darci Metzger and redshirt-junior Kolby McClelland with 12 kills apiece.

Murray State jumped on Eastern in the opening set, which the Racers won 25-16.

The Panthers could not get much going on the attack, recording just 9 kills with a hitting percentage of -.051. But after committing 11 attack errors in the opening set, Eastern would have just nine more in the next three sets combined.

The Racers did not slow down much either, but the Panthers managed to take the second set 25-23.

It was a back-and-forth set, with the score being tied at 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 before the Panthers got the final two points on a kill from redshirt-junior Kylie Michael and a block from juniors Hannah Sieg and Kameryn Sillmon.

After falling behind 3-1 in the third set, Eastern went on a 5-0 run to take control. Murray State would not take another lead in the set, and the Panthers took it 25-19.

Eastern had to come from behind to take the fourth set. Murray State went on a 6-1 run to take an 18-13 lead over the Panthers, who then responded with a 8-1 run of their own.

Like the second set, the fourth set was also tied at 23 before Eastern picked up the final two points.

This time a service error from Murray State’s Becca Fernandez and a block from Michael and Sieg ended the set and the match.

Sieg had 7 total blocks in the match, the most on the team. Freshman libero Christina Martinez Mundo had 23 digs to lead all players.

There are just four matches remaining on the schedule this season, and Eastern will return home for its next two matches against Southeast Missouri on March 21 and 22.

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