Bloomington, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois men's tennis squads dropped their second straight road match, losing at Illinois State, 5-2, on Sunday.  The loss moves the Panthers to 2-3 on the early season.

Played at the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois State won the doubles point behind three consecutive duo wins, and then upped the match score to 2-0, winning at No. 3 singles.  That's when newcomer Justin Haag picked up a straight set win at the fifth spot, to pull the Panthers to within 2-1.

ISU would earn another singles win at No. 4, but fellow EIU freshman Michael Sperry followed up with another straight set win of his own at the No. 6 spot as well, making the score 3-2.

Unfortunately the Redbirds won the next two singles matches at No. 1 and No. 2 to pull-out the victory.

Senior Jeff Rutherford had an early one-set lead over his opponent at the top of the lineup, but was unable to hold on, losing the next two sets.

The men return to the court this coming Friday, traveling to DeKalb to face the Huskies of Northern Illinois.  First serve is set for 5 pm at the Clock Tower Racquet Club.

ISU Men 5, EIU Men 2
2/7/2010 at Bloomington, Ill.
(Evergreen Racquet Club) 

Singles
1. Reichelt, Timon (ILS) def. RUTHERFORD, Jeff (EIUM) - 3-6, 7-5, 10-2
2. Pelaez, Alexander (ILS) def. HILGERT, Matyas (EIUM) - 6-3, 6-4
3. Span, Skip (ILS) def. RACE, Warren (EIUM) - 6-3, 6-1
4. Riart-Ferrer, Xavier (ILS) def. FIRTH, Jamie (EIUM) - 6-3, 6-4
5. HAAG, Justin (EIUM) def. Hobson, Michael (ILS) - 6-2, 6-3
6. SPERRY, Michael (EIUM) def. LeMoine, Micah (ILS) - 6-3, 6-4 

Doubles
1. Pelaez/Hobson (ILS) def. RUTHERFORD/FIRTH (EIUM) - 8-3
2. Miljevic, Filip/Span (ILS) def. RACE/SPERRY (EIUM) - 8-5
3. Reichelt/LeMoine (ILS) def. HILGERT/HAAG (EIUM) - 8-1 

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

… for more info contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID