EIU/EKU Match Program (PDF)  |  EIU/MOR Match Program  (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois men's and women's tennis finishes up the regular-season slate this weekend as the Panthers will host Ohio Valley Conference rivals Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State on Saturday (April 13) and Sunday (April 14) afternoons, respectively.

Action will take place at the Charleston High School Courts, with the women's action getting underway at 10 a.m., followed by a 2 p.m. start for the guys each day.

The Panther men and women currently own 7-8/2-5 and 11-4/6-2 overall and league marks, respectively.

Prior to the home finale versus the Eagles on Sunday, the Panthers will honor four seniors -- Kristen Laird, Warren Race, Michael Sperry, and Merritt Whitley -- for their outstanding contributions to the EIU tennis program.

“It seems like this season, and the careers of four very important players to our program, has flown by," said EIU head coach John Blackburn.

"I think the common thread that Kristen, Merritt, Warren, and Michael all have in common is that their games have dramatically improved during their time at EIU and they have also grown into important leaders on our team and our campus community overall.

"I'm not looking forward to having to replace them in the lineup next year, but will be very proud to call them alumni of our program," he said.

Tied for seventh place, the Eastern men will need to win both weekend matches and hope that SIU Edwardsville also falls in both their matches to EKU and MOR, in order for the Panther guys to have a chance to advance to the six team, end-of-season league championship.

For the EIU women, however, the Panthers are already guaranteed a spot in the three-day event, set to start on April 19 in Paducah, Ky.  Eastern is currently tied with Jacksonville State for third place in the OVC standings, but lose the tiebreaker to the Gamecocks as JSU previously earned a 5-2 win over the Panthers.

The squads from EKU and MOR, meanwhile, sit at 10-12/5-2 for the guys and 15-6/8-0 on the women's side.

“It will be an exciting weekend for both teams," added Blackburn.  "We are going into the last weekend of the season with both teams having an opportunity to qualify for post-season competition if things break correctly and we play good tennis, so that's all we can ask for, we're very excited about competing this weekend.”

Senior Merritt Whitley and sophomore Sephora Boulbahaiem currently pace all Panther women with 11-3 and 11-4 overall marks, while owning respective six and five-match win streaks in singles play.  In league-only action, Whitley is 7-1 while Boulbahaiem is 6-2 on the season.

The guys are led by junior Kevin Bauman's 7-6 mark, while classmate Volodymyr Zverkovsky is a perfect 5-0 overall and 4-0 in league-only play.

... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID