This weekend will be a busy one for several Eastern teams.

Five teams will be in action between Friday and Monday, and four of them will be starting conference competition. 

Women’s Tennis, ITA Midwest Midwest Regionals, Sept. 24-26

The first team in action this weekend is the women’s tennis team. 

The Panthers will be participating in the ITA Midwest Regionals in Champaign, their second and final tournament in the fall schedule.

Eastern competed in the SIUE Cougar Fall Invite on Sept. 10 and 11, losing to SIUE and Bradley before beating Western Illinois.

Volleyball at Murray State, Sept. 24 and 25

The Eastern volleyball team will open conference play this weekend against Murray State after going 7-3 in nonconference play. 

The Panthers went 1-1 against the Racers last season. 

The Panthers are led this season by senior outside hitter Danielle Allen, who ranks sixth in the OVC in kills per set. 

Sophomore middle blocker Emily Wilcox leads the OVC with a .346 hitting percentage. 

As a team, the Panthers rank fifth in the conference with a hitting percentage of .185.

Men’s Soccer vs. St. Thomas, Sept. 25

The Eastern men’s soccer team is winless so far this season, and will begin conference play at home against a winless St. Thomas team. 

The Tommies are in their first season in Division I, and the Panthers are coming off their first tie of the season against Green Bay Tuesday. 

Goalkeeper Jonathan Burke is second in the Summit League this season with 19 saves.  

The Panthers have scored the third-fewest goals in the conference this season with 3. They have also allowed the third-most goals with 12.

Football at Tennessee Tech, Sept. 25

The Eastern football team is coming off their best game of the season, a 31-24 loss to Illinois State, and are opening conference play against a team that they beat last season. 

The Golden Eagles are 0-3 this season and have been shutout in their last two games by scores of 26-0 and 56-0.

The Panthers have gone 2-12 in conference play over the last two seasons. 

Quarterback Otto Kuhns was 16-32 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 34 yards in the game. 

Women’s Soccer vs. Morehead State, Sept. 26

The Eastern women’s soccer team, like the men’s team, will be opening conference play at home this season. 

Morehead State is 2-5-2 this season while Eastern is 2-5-1. 

The Panthers have finished ahead of the Eagles in the standings in each of the last three seasons and the Panthers have picked up shutout wins against Morehead State in each of those seasons, with last season’s match being a 1-0 Eastern win. 

Eastern goalkeeper Faith Davies leads the OVC in saves and shutouts this season. 

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