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RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s volleyball team will play a pair of matches at home on Homecoming weekend. The Colonels will face Eastern Illinois Friday at 7 p.m., at McBrayer Arena. EKU will host Southeast Missouri State for a match a noon on Saturday.

Eastern (4-16, 3-7 OVC) is coming off a 3-2 win over Tennessee State on Saturday. Junior Lindsey Loescher recorded a double-double and the Colonels held off a rally by TSU. The Colonels won the first set before the Tigers won the next two. EKU won the fourth set by nine to even the match and then picked up a two-point victory in the fifth set for the match victory.

Loescher posted a match-high 29 kills, a .299 attack percentage and totaled 15 digs. Senior Bridget Mustard finished with 12 kills, four digs, three aces and two blocks. Setter Kate Hendle contributed a match-high 46 assists and Abby O'Connor finished with a match-best 28 digs.

O’Connor’s performance helped the sophomore capture Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors. In two matches combined, she registered 56 digs for an average of 7.0 digs per set.

Eastern is still alive for a spot in the OVC tournament. With eight conference matches remaining, the Colonels are currently two matches behind the sixth place spot they’ll need to reach to advance to the tournament. One of the teams within reach is Southeast Missouri State (7-11, 5-5 OVC).

Eastern Illinois (4-16, 1-9 OVC) enters Friday’s match having lost 13 of its last 14 matches. The only win in that span is a 3-2 victory over Tennessee State. The Panthers are led by Alex Zwettler’s 2.96 kills per set. Lauren Sopcic leads the team with 27 blocks.

EKU and EIU met earlier in the season in Charleston, Ill. On Sept. 20, the Colonels picked up a 3-0 road win. Loescher led Eastern Kentucky with 17 kills, including the match-winner. She added five digs and two assists to her totals. Senior Amanda Wilson totaled 11 kills, a .320 attack percentage and three blocks. Freshman Hannah Groudle finished with eight kills and three digs. Sopcic led Eastern Illinois with 11 kills and a .364 hitting percentage.

Southeast Missouri has lost five straight matches, including three straight against conference foes. The Redhawks last win was also against Tennessee State, a 3-0 victory.

In their first meeting of the season, on Sept. 19, the Colonels jumped out to a 2-0 lead but the Redhawks rebounded with three straight wins to escape with a 3-2 match victory. For EKU, two players registered 17 or more kills, eight players finished with two or more digs, six players had an assists and six players recorded a block. Loescher led the Colonels with 19 kills. Wilson finished with 17 kills and four block assists. Freshman Jill Henneman turned in a career-best 36 assists. Claire Keaton led the SEMO with a match-high 24 kills and a team-best 13 digs.

Keaton leads Southeast this season with an average of 3.3 kills per set. Emily Hughes has a team-best 47 blocks.