Eastern Illinois men's and women's tennis return to action this weekend with one match scheduled for each program.
The EIU men will play only their second match of the season when they visit Ball State on Friday afternoon. EIU opened the season on Jan. 28 with a 6-1 win over Olivet Nazarene in the first match for newly hired head coach
Paul Jarzynka.
Senior
Daniel Hernandez won a three-set match at No. 1 singles as the Panthers then swept singles points at No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the order.
Newcomers
Karan Srivastava (No. 3) and
Charles Courteau (No. 4) each had straight set wins for the Panthers.
On the women's side EIU returns to action for the first time in two weeks as last week's matches against IUPUI were canceled. The Panther women are off to a 1-3 start to the season with solid individual play in some closely contested matches. EIU travels to Illinois State on Sunday.
Rachel Papavasilopoulos is 4-0 on the year at No. 1 singles and 3-0 on the season at No. 1 doubles teaming with
Christine Gouws. Papavasilopoulos was named the OVC Female Player of the Week after the first two weeks of the season.
Brittany Steven and
Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova are also off to good starts in singles play for the Panthers. Both players are 3-1 in singles matches with Steven playing three matches at No. 4 in the order and once at No. 3. Bukraba-Ulanova is 3-0 playing at No. 3 singles with her loss coming when she slid up to No. 2 against Creighton.
