Panthers fall to 0-4 in conference play
Adam Tumino | The Daily Eastern News
Eastern outside hitter Kaitlyn Flynn follows through on a kill attempt in a match against Indiana State on Sept. 19 in Lantz Arena. Flynn had 10 kills in the match, which Eastern lost 3-1.
October 3, 2021
The Eastern volleyball team dropped a pair of road matches against Tennessee-Martin over the weekend, falling to 0-4 in conference play.
The Panthers have now lost six matches in a row overall after starting the season 7-1.
Eastern entered its match against the Skyhawks Friday after losing two matches to Murray State last weekend to open conference play.
Tennessee-Martin won the match 3-1, winning the first and fourth sets by double figures.
Eastern won set 2 by a score of 25-18, but then dropped the third 25-19.
The second set was by far the best one in the match for the Panthers.
They outhit the Skyhawks .429 to .259, the only set in the match in which Eastern hit above .028.
Outside hitter Ella Collins led the team in the second set with 6 kills while setter Summerlyn Smith had 11 assists.
Collins led the team in the match as well with 15 kills, one shy of her season high.
Smith had 28 assists and libero Christina Martinez Mundo had 16 digs.
Karen Scanlon led the Skyhawks with 15 kills while hitting .414 in the match.
The match on Saturday was won in straight sets by the Skyhawks by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-17.
Eastern hit .071 as a team and had just 23 kills in the match, while Tennessee-Martin hit .290 and had 52 kills.
Eastern was led by middle blocker Emily Wilcox with 5 kills while middle hitter Kameryn Sillmon and outside hitter Ireland Hieb added 4 kills apiece.
Smith and setter Bailey Chandler each had 10 assists in the match.
Scanlon once again led the Skyhawks in kills, this time with 13. Addison Conley also recorded double figures in kills with 11. They hit .321 and .333 respectively.
Tennessee-Martin, now 4-1 in conference play, will host 2-2 Murray State next weekend.
Eastern will play its conference home opener on Tuesday against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 4 p.m.
The Cougars are also 0-4 to start conference play, making them and Eastern the only two teams in the OVC without a conference win so far.
Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
