| PANTHER MEN hosts AUSTIN PEAY & MURRAY STATE |
| Details | vs. APSU | 1 p.m. (approx.) | Fri., March 20, 2015 | Darling Courts | Charleston, Ill. | Match Program (PDF) |
| vs. MUR | 1 p.m. (approx.) | Sat., March 21, 2015 | Darling Courts | Charleston, Ill. | Match Program (PDF) |
| EIU info | 2-9 / 1-0 OVC | News | Roster | Schedule | Statistics |
| APSU info | 6-4 / 1-0 OVC | Website |
| MUR info | 0-10 / 0-1 OVC | Website |
| -- |
| PANTHER WOMEN hosts AUSTIN PEAY & MURRAY STATE |
| Details | vs. APSU | 10:30 a.m. | Fri., March 20, 2015 | Darling Courts | Charleston, Ill. | Match Program (PDF) |
| vs. MUR | 10:30 a.m. | Sat., March 21, 2015 | Darling Courts | Charleston, Ill. | Match Program (PDF) |
| EIU info | 6-3 / 1-0 OVC | News | Roster | Schedule | Statistics |
| APSU info | 2-11 / 0-3 OVC | Website |
| MUR info | 8-2 / 2-0 OVC | Website |
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois men's and women's tennis will host a pair of Ohio Valley Conference foes this weekend, as the Panthers entertain Austin Peay on Friday (March 20) and Murray State on Saturday (March 21). On each day, women's action gets underway at 10:30 a.m., followed by the guys at approximately 1 p.m., with both duals to be played outside at EIU's own Rex Darling Courts.
Heading into the busy weekend league slate, the Eastern men sit at 2-9 overall, while the Panther ladies, who have now won four consecutive matchups, enjoy a 6-3 overall mark. Both EIU units are 1-0 in early-season OVC action following respective wins over Tennessee State last weekend.
The Govs and Lady Govs of APSU enter at 6-4/1-0 and 2-11/0-3, respectively. The Racers, prior to traveling to SIU Edwardsville tomorrow, own respective 0-10/0-1 and 8-2/2-0 marks on the men's and women's sides.
QUOTING DIRECTOR OF TENNIS/WOMEN'S HEAD COACH JOHN BLACKBURN
"We are incredibly excited to have our OVC home openers on campus this weekend," said director of tennis/women's coach John Blackburn, who is in his 10th season with the Panther program. "The weather outlook appears to be good, so it will be great to get out on our courts in familiar surroundings.
"We expect a couple of great matches, as I expect all the OVC matches will be tightly contested this season, so we look forward to the challenge."
QUOTING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF TENNIS/MEN'S HEAD COACH ERIC STARK
"We are also extremely excited to play our conference home openers this weekend," said associate tennis director/head men's coach Eric Stark. "We have shown steady improvement with each match and I think we are peaking at the right time, so we look forward to the challenges of two really good teams this weekend.
"There is always so much energy in these conference matches, and hopefully we can go out and set the tempo from the first ball."
QUICK LOOK AT THE PANTHERS
Junior Robert Skolik's 5-6 overall singles mark, including a 3-3 tally at the top of the lineup, currently leads all Panthers as he has also seen play at both No.2 and No. 3 singles. He brings a four-match win streak into the weekend. Meanwhile, when teamed with freshman Preston Touliatos, the duo are 3-7 in doubles at the No. 1 spot.
Touliatos and junior Ryan Henderson both have four wins in singles as well, as each sports 4-7 marks overall. Touliatos is 4-3 at No. 3, while Henderson is 2-2 at No. 4.
For the ladies, Ali Foster continues to shine for EIU as the junior has won eight straight singles matchups to sit at 8-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 at the No. 3 spot. She's also 6-2 in doubles when teamed with classmate Hannah Kimbrough at the No. 2 duo spot.
Kimbrough, meanwhile, has won three straight singles bouts of her own and sits at 5-3 overall, including a 3-2 tally at the No. 5 spot in the lineup.
Senior Sephora Boulbahaiem and newcomer Grace Summers own identical 5-4 records in singles and sport an impressive 5-2 No. 1 double mark as well.
SCOUTING THE WEEKEND COMPETITION
The Austin Peay men, who were picked to finish 3rd in the preseason poll, earned their lone OVC win with a 6-1 victory over Murray State while going 6-4 overall. The Lady Govs, meanwhile, were picked to finish 8th this season and are just 2-11 overall and winless thus far in league action as they have won three consecutive matchups, including falling to UT Martin and Southeast Missouri.
Picked ninth overall in the preseason poll, the Racer men are currently winless on the year at 0-10, yet the Racer women, who are the preseason favorites during the spring campaign enter the weekend at 8-2 overall and 2-0 in early OVC action, which includes consecutive 7-0 routs of SEMO and APSU.
UP NEXT ON THE PANTHER SCHEDULE
Next week, both EIU squads will travel west on I-70 to face instate OVC rival SIU Edwardsville in a noon dual on Wednesday (March 25), while the ladies when then continue league action on the road at UT Martin and SEMO the following weekend.
.... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
