EDWARDSVILLE, Ind. -- The Eastern Illinois men's and women's tennis squads each picked up road wins on Saturday evening, as both units scratched past SIU-Edwardsville by identical 4-2 scores.

The victory marked the season-opener for the Panther women, while the men improved their early-season mark to 1-1 via the win.

The four individual winners for the Eastern men included Warren Race, Matyas Hilgert, Charlie Dryden, and Kevin Bauman.

"We saw some improvement as a team from last weekend," said Panther head coach John Blackburn.  "We are still not consistently executing as we'd like to, but did finish well in many of the matches.

"Warren Race's play stood out today as an example of many of the things we're looking for," said Blackburn.  "We'll look for him to continue to improve. I feel we're a long way from playing our best tennis, so we need to continue to be resolved to doing the right things on game day and we should see improvement."

Race and Hilgert both won their match in straight sets at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively.  Dryden and Bauman, meanwhile, each battled back from first set losses to earn victories at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots of the lineup.

While on the women's side, winners were Janelle Prisner, Merritt Whitley, Amanda Dibbs, and Cara Huck. 

"It was great to get the season started today," Blackburn said.  "For the most part, we did a good job with the basics of our gameplan, but I know we're capable of playing at a higher level as a team. Hopefully we'll see a big jump from the first match to the second."

Playing at the top of the Panther lineup, newcomer Prisner earned a straight set win, as did Whitley at No. 3 singles.  Dibbs and Huck followed suit, downing each of their respective SIUE opponents in consecutive sets as well.

Due to time issues, as well as having picked up enough points in singles action to earn each team win, no doubles play took place between the two instate foes.

Men's Results
EIU Panthers 4, SIUE Cougars 2

Singles
1 - Paulo Gonzalez (SIUE) def. Michael Sperry (EIU) - 6-3, 6-2 
2 - Warren Race (EIU) def. Dylan Reed (SIUE) - 6-2, 6-2 
3 - Matyas Hilgert (EIU) def. Justin Spicer (SIUE) - 6-4, 6-1 
4 - Devan Faulkenberg (SIUE) def. Jamie Firth (EIU) - 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 
5 - Charlie Dryden (EIU) def. Ryan Vogt (SIUE) - 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 
6 - Kevin Bauman (EIU) def. Jacob Tanulanond (SIUE) - 2-6, 6-4, 6-2

No doubles played

Women's Results
EIU Panthers 4, SIUE Cougars 2

Singles
1 - Janelle Prisner (EIU) def. Carli Connors (SIUE) - 6-3, 6-3 
2 - Maggie Boeckman (SIUE) def. Jennifer Kim (EIU) - 7-5, 6-2 
3 - Merritt Whitley (EIU) def. Laura Horning (SIUE) - 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) 
4 - Amanda Dibbs (EIU) def. Rachel Webb (SIUE) - 6-2, 6-2 
5 - Cara Huck (EIU) def. Amanda Miller (SIUE) - 6-0, 6-1 
6 - Joanna Corkern (SIUE) def. Annie Egan (EIU) - 8-7 (7-1)

No doubles played

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