PEORIA, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois men's tennis lost a close 4-3 road match at instate rival Bradley on Wednesday (March 5) afternoon, as the Panthers fall to 3-4 overall.

After sweeping the Braves to earn the all-important doubles point, the Panthers unfortunately were only able to pick up two singles wins as Bradley snapped a six-match losing streak to claw past EIU and improve to 3-7 on the season.

"We did some really good things in doubles today," said EIU associate tennis director and men's coach Eric Stark. "We had a couple of great individual efforts in singles as well, but we were just too inconsistent today.

"We have to get back to work to fix some things right away," Stark added. "We are really close to having that breakthrough and it feels like it can happen any day."

Newcomer Moritz Kandt and sophomore Robert Skolik each gutted out wins at No. 1 and No. 4 singles action, respectively.

"I really thought Moritz and Rob showed what we can accomplish when we dig in and take the match from their opponents," said Stark

Sophomore Ryan Henderson dropped a tight match at No. 2 in three sets, while Rui Silva also fell in a three-set heartbreaker at No. 6 to account for the final score.

Eastern will next entertain Lindenwood in the Panthers' home opener on Fri., March 7, joining the EIU women's squad in the dual matchup at the CHS courts.

EIU Men at BU Men
March 5, 2014 at Peoria, Ill.
(Clubs at River City North)

Bradley 4, Eastern Illinois 3

Singles
1. Moritz Kandt (EIU) def. Hamish Weerasinghe (BU) - 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
2. Arthur Romanet (BU) def. Ryan Henderson (EIU) - 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
3. Nico Rakitin (BU) def. Grant Thompson (EIU) - 6-2, 6-1
4. Robert Skolik (EIU) def. Ashton Kalhorn (BU) - 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
5. Justin Abrams (BU) def. Kevin Bauman (EIU) - 6-1, 6-1
6. Dan Rodefeld (BU) def. Rui Silva (EIU) - 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles
1. Bauman/Skolik (EIU) def. Rakitin/Weerasinghe (BU) - 7-6 (8-6)
2. Henderson/Silva (EIU) def. Abrams/Romanet (BU) - 8-4
3. Kandt/Thompson (EIU) def. Kalhorn/Rodefeld (BU) - 8-6

Match Notes:
Eastern Illinois 3-4
Bradley 3-7

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3*,1) ... Singles (3,5,4,2,1,6*)

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