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Eastern Illinois (0-9, 0-4 OVC) vs. Chattanooga (13-11, 2-2 OVC)
Friday, April 22
8:30 a.m. at Clarksville, Tenn.

Eastern Illinois vs. Morehead State (7-7, 1-3 OVC)
Friday, April 22
12:30 p.m. at Clarksville, Tenn.

Eastern Illinois vs. UT Martin (12-6, 4-0 OVC)
Saturday, April 23
10:30 a.m. at Clarksville, Tenn.

Eastern Illinois at Austin Peay (15-9, 3-1 OVC)
Saturday, April 23
4:30 p.m. at Clarksville, Tenn.

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois will wrap up their regular season with the second Ohio Valley Conference weekend of the season, this one being played at the Govs Beach Volleyball Complex hosted by Austin Peay. The Panthers will play two matches on Friday against Chattanooga and Morehead State, and then follow that with two matches on Saturday against UT Martin and Austin Peay. EIU battled tough in the first OVC Weekend at Chattanooga, but ultimately went 0-4 in their inaugural weekend.

OVC STANDINGS: The Skyhawks of UT Martin control first place in the OVC as they have a 4-0 record in conference and a 12-6 record overall. UT Martin defeated Eastern Illinois 5-0 in their first meeting back in March. Austin Peay sits in second place after going 3-1 in the opening OVC Weekend earlier this season. The Governors have defeated the Panthers twice this season. Chattanooga sits in third place and are followed by Morehead State in fourth and EIU in fifth.

LAST MATCH: The Panthers last competed in the Eastern Kentucky Tournament which was hosted at EKU. Eastern fought hard in all four matches, while multiple girls earned set victories. EIU would go on to lose all four matches at EKU.

On day one, TaKenya Stafford and Ashley Sharkus claimed a victory in the number one pairs as the defeated North Alabama with scores of 21-17, 10-21, 15-9. Christina Martinez Mundo and Elisavet Papageorgiou also fought hard in the number two pairing as they would eventually lose 18-21 and 19-21. Emily Wilcox and Ella Collins added their first victory of the season in the second match on day one with a 21-14, 9-21, and 15-10 victory. They defeated the number three pairing from EKU.

The Panthers needed one more set win to pick up their win of their inaugural season against Jacksonville State on day two of the EKU tournament. Papageorgiou and Martinez Mundo earned their second victory of the weekend against JSU and Kaitlyn Flynn and Catalina Rochaix earned their first set win of the season. The duo of Flynn and Rochaix won their match by a scores of 21-16 and 21-14.

UP NEXT: EIU will end its regular season after it competes in the final OVC Weekend at Austin Peay. The Panthers will then compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on April 28th through the 30th in Morehead, Ky. EIU will look to win their first OVC Championship in beach volleyball.

HEAD COACH: Manolo Concepcion will lead the Panthers in their first season as EIU's first beach volleyball head coach. Concepcion is the current assistant head coach during the fall volleyball season. He is in his third season in the position under Sara Thomas. Concepcion has helped shape the culture of the Panthers program both on and off the court.  In just the second season EIU reached double figure wins, won two in-season tournaments (EIU Panther Invitational and SIU Saluki Tournament) and reached the OVC Tournament; all things the program had not done since the 2017 season.   EIU opened the year with a 7-1 record and had outside hitter Danielle Allen earn All-OVC honors. A native of Puerto Rico, Concepcion has coaching experience at all levels ranging from Men's and Women's Professional Volleyball, NCAA, NJCAA, high school and club levels.  He is currently working on his Doctorate in Psychology with a Specialization in Sport and Performance (from University of Arizona Global) with the goal to use those experiences and education towards the betterment of the EIU volleyball programs.