FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Eastern Illinois tennis squads earned a hard-fought split on the road, traveling to face both the IPFW men's and women's squads in a Sunday afternoon matchup. The Panther men pulled out a nice 5-2 win, while the EIU women lost their respective match by the same score.

The Panther men now stand at 1-1 on the early season while the women officially opened up the spring portion of the schedule in the dual.

For the men, the squad picked up the important doubles point after taking two of three duos. The Panthers then followed that up by taking four of the six singles events. Winners included senior Jeff Rutherford at the top of the lineup, followed by sophomore Matyas Hilgert winning at No. 2 Singles, where he battled back for a three-set win.

Two EIU freshman picked up key wins as Warren Race and Justin Haag won at the No. 4 and No. 6 positions, respectively.

The women lost a very tight doubles matchup, as IPFW took two of three bouts, but needed extra action to pull out the No. 1 doubles victory to secure the important doubles point.

The lone Panther winners in singles play included sophomore Juliana Frey and freshman Merritt Whitley taking their respective No. 3 and No. 4 contests.

Both Eastern squads return to the court next Saturday, traveling to instate rival and future Ohio Valley Conference foe SIU-Edwardsville. The dual is set to start at 3:30 pm at the Edwardsville YMCA.

EIU Men 5, IPFW Men 2

Singles
1. Jeff Rutherford (EIU) def. Francisco Sigaud (IPFW) - 6-1, 6-3
2. Matyas Hilgert (EIU) def. Felipe Gama (IPFW) - 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
3. Luis Maselli (IPFW) def. Jamie Firth (EIU) - 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
4. Warren Race (EIU) def. Luis Sanado (IPFW) - 6-2, 6-7, 6-4
5. Junya Saruta (IPFW) def. Michael Sperry (EIU) - 6-4, 6-4
6. Justin Haag (EIU) def. Eduardo Sztrajtman (IPFW) - 6-4, 6-3

Doubles
1. Rutherford/Hilgert (EIU) def. Siguad/Gama (IPFW) - 8-5
2. Firth/Haag (EIU) def. Sztrajtman/Maselli (IPFW) - 8-6
3. Saruta/ Sanado (IPFW) def. Race/Sperry (EIU) - 8-6

IPFW Women 5, EIU Women 2

Singles
1. Amy Recht (IPFW) def. Amanda Dibbs (EIU) - 6-1, 6-3
2. Ingrid Ballus (IPFW) def. Shannon Brooks (EIU) - 6-2, 6-4
3. Juliana Frey (EIU) def. Yuka Kobayashi (IPFW) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Merritt Whitley (EIU) def. Raquel Vescovi (IPFW) - 7-6 (6), 6-2
5. Katie Brien (IPFW) def. Kristen Laird (EIU) - 6-1, 6-2
6. Alexandra Forsyth (IPFW) def. Annie Egan (EIU) - 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. Recht/Ballus (IPFW) def. Brooks/Huck (EIU) - 9-8 (4)
2. Forsyth/Brien (IPFW) def. Frey/Whitley (EIU) - 8-4
3. Dibbs/Egan (EIU) def. Vescovi/ Kobayashi (IPFW) - 8-2 

For more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID