The Eastern men’s tennis team could not keep their 3-match win streak alive against Northern Illinois. The men lost 6-1 Friday at Rockford Boylan High School to the Huskies, winning only two of the nine matches played. The men are now 3-2 on the season.

“We felt like we had a chance to succeed,” John Blackburn said. “But we came up short. I was disappointed with our doubles scores but that was just because I feel like that any time we lose. I am not disappointed with one person, just the outcome.”

Junior Chuck LeVaque was the lone bright spot for the Panthers. He won his No. 1 singles match 3-6,7-6, 10-5 and combined with junior Brandon Lenfert to win the No. 1 doubles match 9-7. LeVaque and Lenfert are now 4-1 on the year in doubles play.

“Me and Brandon came in together as freshmen,” LeVaque said. “But we never got a chance to play together consistently. It has been working out for us this year and I think we have a chance to do really well.”

Junior Ryan Blankenbaker and sophomore Chris Thomas returned with losing efforts in their singles matches after a week of being limited to doubles action. Both are coming off knee injuries suffered in the season opener at Marquette. Blackburn felt they were strong enough to get back to singles but that might have been premature for Thomas.

“My knee felt great in doubles,” Thomas said. “But at Northern, in singles, it felt really shaky and I thought it might go out again. I think going from practicing in Lantz Fieldhouse to regular hard-courts was the problem.”

The women had last weekend off while the men competed but that will be reversed this weekend. The men are now off until March 3 when they head to St. Louis to take on the Billikens.

“There are two ways to look at a long break in play,” Blackburn said. “One way to look at it is there is a long gap in matches and there could be some rust.

“The other way to look at is we get a chance to rest and get a little healthier. I am confident we will be ready to go.”

The women have two matches this weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when they take on South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. The women will join the men at SLU on March 4.