2009-10 Panther Men's Schedule
2009-10 Panther Women's Schedule
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The 2009-10 men's and women's tennis schedules have been officially set for the upcoming Eastern Illinois fall and spring seasons, as announced by Panther head coach
John Blackburn.
Both EIU units will play a three-tournament fall slate, with the men competing at the Ball State and Louisville Invitationals, while the women will participate in the Northern Illinois Invitational as well as a Ball State event.
The Panther men and women are also scheduled to play in the prestigious ITA Midwest Regional, with the men traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich. and the women up north to Evanston, Ill.
The spring portion of the schedule kicks off in late January, 2010, with both units traveling to regional rival IPFW (Jan. 24). Other common opponents for both the men and women include dates at SIU-Edwardsville (Jan. 30), Ball State (Feb. 24 & March 6), and Northern Illinois (Feb. 12 & 21).
Besides a home match versus McKendree on March 12, both Eastern squads will host Ohio Valley Conference opponents Tennessee Tech (March 21), Jacksonville State (April 2), Tennessee State (April 3), and Austin Peay (April 11).
The Eastern men will travel to East Lansing, Mich. to battle Big Ten power Michigan State (March 13) in the first-ever meeting between the Panthers and Spartans.
Overall, the Panther men will have seven league contests as compared to nine for the women. UT Martin and Southeast Missouri field only women's tennis squads in conference action. The EIU men will host two other non-conference opponents at the friendly confines of Rex Darling Courts, hosting IUPUI to open home action on March 5, as well as an April 7 home battle versus instate rival Southern Illinois.
Of the men's schedule, coach Blackburn feels that this will be one of our most challenging schedules in his five years at EIU. "The quality of teams we have on our fall tournament and spring dual-match schedule will allow us to play against some of the top programs in the midwest," he said. "This should be great preparation for league play.”
Six of the men's opponents this coming season have been ranked in the top 75 in the country and/or attended the NCAA Tournament the past four years.
Meanwhile, Blackburn thinks the women's schedule will help showcase some natural midwestern rivalries. "We are continuing our yearly matches with a lot of very good teams in the midwest, while also adding new matches against good Saint Louis, Illinois-Chicago, and Ball State squads, which will be exciting matchups for us. I think our non-conference schedule will definitely help prepare us well for Ohio Valley Conference play.”
The regular end-of-season OVC Championship is set for April 16-18, being hosted by Morehead State, with the location to be determined.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID