Terre Haute, Ind. / Des Moines, Iowa -- Eastern Illinois men's and women's tennis earned a Saturday (Jan. 31) split off a respective 7-0 loss and 4-3 win against Nebraska and Dayton.

With the tough loss, the Panther men fall to 0-3 while the EIU women improve to an even 1-1 overall mark in early season.

The women picked up the all-important doubles point with relatively easy wins at both No. 1 and No.2, then the Panther ladies clawed past the Flyers with three additional singles wins.  Sophomore Kelly Iden was victorious in straight sets in the No. 2 spot in the lineup to push EIU ahead, 2-0 in the match, yet the Flyers would win three straight matches to enjoy a 3-2 advantage.

But junior Hannah Kimbrough won a hard-fought three-set affair at No. 6 to tie the contest, before classmate Ali Foster scratched past her No. 4 competition in a three-set thriller for the final margin of Panther victory and thus the comeback win.

"I thought we took some important steps forward today," said director of tennis/women's head coach John Blackburn.  "Our goal this week in practice was to recognize key opportunities in matches and improve our decision making and I think that was going in the right direction today. We know we still have a lot of improvement yet to do, so we'll get right back to work.

"We had a lot of good performances today," added Blackburn.  "Kelly's singles match was an important step towards the team win. Plus Ali and Hannah's play really stood out, as they controlled their doubles match and showed a lot of heart in fighting for the two deciding singles wins in three sets."

On the guy's side, EIU dropped the doubles point in three straight losses but not before putting up a nice fight.  The Huskers would add six additional straight set victories in singles play for the margin of victory.

"We had some great individual efforts today, but you can't beat a really good Nebraska team without a combined team effort" said associate tennis director/men's head coach Eric Stark.  "I really liked the way we played doubles today.  Rob and Preston battled back from a break down and Ryan and Rui moved well and returned well. I thought this was their best doubles match of the young season.

"I also liked the way Rob and Grant fought in singles play," Stark added.  "We had chances in both their matchups against very good opponents and just couldn't get our foot in the door.  We need to get refocused quickly to prepare for a really tough week versus a ranked Indianapolis team and two very strong teams in Valpo and Michigan State."

Next week the Eastern men return to the court with a mid-week road trip to Indianapolis on Tuesday (Feb. 3), before facing both Michigan State and Valparaiso the following Saturday (Feb. 7).  The Panther women will next play on Saturday as well, traveling to Bloomington-Normal to face the Redbirds of Illinois State.

Eastern Illinois hosted Dayton
Jan. 31, 2015 at Terre Haute, Ind.
(Wabash Valley Tennis Center)

EIU Women 4, UD Women 3

Singles
1. Marlys Bridgham (UD) def. Grace Summers (EIU) - 6-3, 6-4
2. Kelly Iden (EIU) def. Alex Townsend (UD) - 6-2, 6-1
3. Carly Peck (UD) def. Sephora Boulbahaiem (EIU) - 6-1, 6-3
4. Ali Foster (EIU) def. Jackie Kawamoto (UD) - 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
5. Mandy Marchant (UD) def. Kamile Stadalninkaite (EIU) - 7-6, 7-5
6. Hannah Kimbrough (EIU) def. Katie Shepherd (UD) - 6-2, 5-7, 6-2

Doubles
1. Boulbahaiem/Summers (EIU) def. Bridgham/Marchant (UD) - 6-4
2. Foster/Kimbrough (EIU) def. Peck/Shepherd (UD) - 6-2
3. Iden/Stadalninkaite (EIU) def. Kawamoto/Townsend (UD) - Did not finish

Match Notes:
Eastern Illinois 1-1
Dayton 1-2

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

......

Eastern Illinois vs. Nebraska
Jan. 31, 2015 at Des Moines, Iowa
(Drake's Knapp Tennis Center)

UN Men 7, EIU Men 0

Singles
1. Dusty Boyer (NEB) def. Grant Thompson (EIU) - 6-4, 7-5
2. Marc Herrmann (NEB) def. Preston Touliatos (EIU) - 6-2, 6-2
3. Andrew Dzulynsky (NEB) def. Robert Skolik (EIU) - 6-3, 6-4
4. Linus Erhart (NEB) def. Ryan Henderson (EIU) - 6-1, 6-1
5. Chris Hobgarski (NEB) def. Rui Silva (EIU) - 6-2, 6-2
6. Vasileios Stavropoulos (NEB) def. Grant Reiman (EIU) - 6-4, 6-1

Doubles
1. Boyer/Bradford Zitsch (NEB) def. Skolik/Touliatos (EIU) - 7-5
2. Scott Elsass/Linus Erhart (NEB) def. Henderson/Silva (EI) - 6-4
3. Herrmann/ Hobgarski (NEB) def. Thompson/David Constantinescu (EIU) - 6-3

Match Notes:
Eastern Illinois 0-3
Nebraska 1-2

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

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