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CHARLESTON, Ill. -- After playing nine of the last 13 Ohio Valley Conference matches on the road, Eastern Illinois volleyball will finally get to enjoy a six-match homestand, starting this weekend against UT Martin on Friday night at 7 pm and Murray State at 2 pm on Saturday afternoon.

Eastern enters the weekend with a 9-17 overall and 2-11 OVC mark, while UT Martin comes to town with 7-16 and 2-11 records.  Murray State, meanwhile, sports a 6-16 overall and an even 6-6 conference record prior to a Friday night match at Southeast Missouri.

Each of the upcoming six home contests will be versus OVC squads that the Panthers lost to previously this season on the road, not including SIU-Edwardsville, however. as EIU downed SIUE in four sets in Edwardsville to break a nine-match losing streak.  Eastern will host the future league rival on Nov. 14 in the Panthers' season-finale.

PANTHERS TO 'DIG PINK' VERSUS UTM ON FRIDAY
As part of 'Breast Cancer Awareness' month in October, the Panthers will be donning their best pink on Friday night against UTM, in conjunction with 'Dig for the Cure' campaign.  A table will be set-up to accept monetary donations, as well as selling $10 t-shirts.  All funds will go toward the Susan B. Komen Foundation's fight against breast cancer.

This has become an annual event for the Panther squad. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as well, or to purchase a shirt at the match.  Plus donations will be accepted through the Panther Athletic Office by contacting the Athletic Marketing office at (217) 581-7151 or rgilmore@eiu.edu for more information.

BIG BROTHERS/SISTERS DAY & COSTUME CONTEST SET FOR SATURDAY
Saturday's Halloween home match versus Murray State will be part of “Big Brothers & Big Sisters Day', which will also include a “Best Costume” contest and a chance for everyone to show off their best dance moves to Michael Jackson's “Thriller”, which will take place between the second and third sets.

TEN-MATCH OVC DROUGHT ENDS
Following a marathon five-set win at Tennessee State last Saturday afternoon, the Panthers snapped a season-long ten-match OVC losing streak. Eastern set new season highs in both kills (66) and attack percentage (.275) in the win. The victory over the Tigers also avenged an earlier four-set home loss to TSU and upped Eastern's all-time series advantage over Tennessee State to 22-4.

SKIPPER ALAN SEGAL SAYS
“Well, it will definitely be nice not being on the road anymore, plus it is good to finish the season at home. We will try and win some matches, which I think we have a good chance to do in the next few weeks. Our goal is to finish the season strong and play well, which will be a good way to end the year in preparation for spring ball, which will be the first spring volleyball as a squad.
 
Right now, everyone looks healthy. Which is the first time, or at least not since the second week of season anyway, that everybody wil be healthy. Having a full and healthy squad will finally give us options offensively. That will be the best part, being able to do different stuff. This weekend I think we'll see two competitive matches, so hopefully we'll come away with a win. Our goal is to play better volleyball. Against TSU on Saturday, the squad fought hard and battled for every point. That's the Panther team I hope shows up this weekend as well as the rest of the year.”

SECOND LOOK AT UT MARTIN
The Skyhawks of UT Martin come to Charleston looking to break a seven-match losing streak of their own, as the last victory came against the Panthers on October 6 down in Martin, Tenn.

Quick look at stats shows that junior outside hitter Lauren Montague leads the squad with 241 kills for a 2.90 per-set average. She also has 157 digs, ten aces and 34 total blocks. 

Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Doherty, meanwhile, is tops in hitting for UTM with a .277 average behind 185 kills. She is also second on the squad for total blocks, with 49 roofs.
Sophomore setter Jenna Miller has 692 dishes to her name this season and has a potent serve as well, as she leads the squad with 20 aces. 

Defensively, the Skyhawks are led by freshman libero Kasey Elswick with 420 (5.00 dps) ups. She leads a group of five UTM players with triple-digit dig numbers. At the net, Sophomore Britany Wilburn has stopped 67 total attacks from reaching the UTM side of the court, including five solo and 62 assisted blocks. 

RE-SCOUTING THE MURRAY STATE RACERS
Picked in the preseason to win the OVC regular-season title, the Murray State Racers have had an up and down season. Actually, more like a down and up season, as they started with a ten-match drought and have gone 6-6 overall since. That places the squad in a solid fifth place in OVC standings. 

Prior to playing at SEMO on Friday evening, junior outside hitter Becca Lamb is one of five players with triple-digit kill numbers, as she leads all players with 215 kills. Fellow junior Ashley Nenninger is a close second with 205. Sophomore middle Mary Cunningham sports the squads best hitting mark with a .287 percentage via 144 kills. Sophomore setter Jade Guo has 778 assists and nearly 100 kills as well, with 91 put-a-ways, plus she is second in aces with 17. 

Defensively, sophomore libero Kayleah Sauer has 391 ups and has a serious serve, having already registered 22 aces. At the net, Junior Sarah Hayden has blocked 70 attacks, including nine all by herself. She has also nailed 17 aces behind the serving line.

SECOND SET JINX CONTINUES
A very bad thing happens to the Panther squad whenever they drop the second frame of a match. They most likely will lose the contest. Stats show that EIU has lost the second set 15 times and are 0-15 when doing so. On the bright side however, the squad is a combined 9-2 when picking up a win in the second set and 7-2 after taking the third frame.

.... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID