OVC Women's Tennis Site | EIU Championship Site Info
2012 All-OVC Squads (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois women's tennis is set to compete at the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference championship this weekend as EIU plays host to the annual end-of-season event down in Nashville, Tenn.

As the No. 5 seed, the Panther women are making their first trip to the championship since 2009, as EIU owns a 9-10 overall record and finished with a 5-4 mark in league play.

Eastern will face No. 4 Austin Peay in match #2 at 2 p.m. on Friday (April 20), as both the Panthers and Lady Govs tied for fourth place at the end of the regular-season.  APSU actually won the regular-season meeting, 5-2, over EIU back on March 27.

The top six squads in the OVC standings advance to the end-of-year tournament, with regular-season champion Eastern Kentucky the No. 1 Seed, followed by UT Martin, Murray State for second and third.  Morehead State rounds out the field at No. 6.

“We're excited to have made the conference tournament,” said EIU head coach John Blackburn.  “I think it speaks volumes about the hard work and the poise of our girls this year.  I think it is going to be a wide-open field this year, which will make for an exciting weekend of tennis.”

As announced at this evening's awards banquet, sophomore Janelle Prisner and junior Merritt Whitley both represented the Panther squad on the All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team.   The honors mark the first time since 2008 that an EIU female tennis player has garnered conference kudos.

“Merritt overcame a lot of adversity this year and has responded by playing lights-out for us this season,” added Blackburn, “while Janelle has taken a stepped up in her game as well.  We are really excited about having both of them back again next year.”

Prisner and Whitley both sport 6-3 marks in league action at their respective No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots, while they are 7-2 at No. 1 doubles.

Team-wise, the EIU women are an even 57-57 combined in singles and 24-33 in doubles thus far this season.

Senior Amanda Dibbs and sophomore Jennifer Kim own respective 10-9 and 9-9 marks as each has seen action at No. 3 thru No. 4 singles play.

The EIU/APSU winner will face the top-seed EKU Colonels in a semifinal match at 2 p.m. on Saturday (April 21).

Fans may follow complete action at the three-day event can followed by either the OVC website or thru EIU's own championship site, with links to both available above.

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