CSU W-Tennis Info | NIU W-Tennis Info

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois women's tennis is set for a busy weekend as the Panthers travel to Chicago State and Northern Illinois for consecutive matches on Saturday (Feb. 11) and Sunday (Feb. 12).  First serves are scheduled for 2 p.m. at CSU and 1 p.m. versus NIU.

“We're excited for the weekend," said seventh year head coach John Blackburn.  "These are two tough matches against teams we always have competitive, exciting matches against. It will be a good test for us to go out on the road for back-to-back matches for the first time this year.”

The EIU women enter the weekend with an early-season 1-2 mark after having recently lost a 2-5 match last weekend to Southern Illinois.

The Cougars of CSU sit at 1-4 overall with their lone win coming against instate rival Bradley.  The NIU Huskies, meanwhile, are 4-2 thus far this spring, which includes victories over fellow OVC foe SIU Edwardsville and another win versus Bradley as well.

Senior Amanda Dibbs leads all Panthers with a 2-1 mark in singles play, including a 1-0 record at No. 3 action.

Meanwhile, Janelle Prisner, Merritt Whitley and Jennifer Kim all sport 1-2 records when competing mostly at their respective No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 lineup spots.

In doubles action, the twosome of Prisner and Whitley own a 2-1 tally at the top of the Panther duo lineup.

“We've had some great individual contributions from players this year," added Blackburn.  "We're looking for the entire group to rise up together this weekend.”

Following the two match weekend slate, the Panthers will rejoin the Eastern men for a 2 p.m. dual at Midwest foe IPFW on Feb. 18.

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