Eastern fell to Lindenwood University’s beach volleyball team in a 3-2 scrap Wednesday afternoon at Sister City Park. The town of Charleston showed out for Eastern’s lone home game, as Sister City Park was buzzing with members of the community. Most of this buzz was contributed by a large contingent of fourth through sixth graders.
The Golden Eagles went on a 10-2 run to close out the third and final set of the match to knock off the Panthers in their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 22 years on Thursday evening in Lafayette, IN. Eastern struggled to gain momentum throughout the entire game as the Panthers’ longest run was 4-0.
Eastern’s volleyball team had a dominant victory over the eight seeded Little Rock Trojans in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. The victory would start off with the Panthers receiving the opening point of the match as the ball went out of bounds off a Trojan player. Panther’s junior outside hitter Kaitlyn.
In Head Coach Sara Thomas’ career at Eastern she has improved every year. Thomas took over as Eastern’s Volleyball coach in 2019. Thomas’ first season came during the shortened pandemic in 2020. During this season the Panthers played 16 games and finished with a record of 2-14 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Thomas got her.
Head coach Sara Thomas and the Panthers are 2-0 after winning both games on Friday in Lantz Arena. On the first day of the EIU Panther Classic, Eastern beat the University of Louisiana-Monroe 3-0, and the Panthers also beat the Valparaiso Beacons 3-2. On Friday afternoon, the first game for the Panthers was a win.