Eastern took on two teams with drastic differences in talent over the weekend.

The Panthers defeated the 1-7 Jackrabbits of South Dakota State on Friday. The team played hard but fell 4-3 to an undefeated Northern Iowa squad.

While their opponents played at different levels, Eastern played consistently tough and nearly came out of the weekend without a loss.

“The girls competed really well,” head coach John Blackburn said. “We came up a little short on Saturday (against UNI), but we played particularly well against them. They were a very good team.”

Eastern made quick work of SDSU on Friday, winning 4-3 at the Black Hawk Tennis Club in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Panthers swept the doubles action then won the first two singles matches easily.

The Jackrabbits won their first match of the day at No. 3 singles but were quickly silenced when senior Jill Wirtz won her No. 4 singles match against Nicole Siebrasse.

The competition level of UNI was much higher than SDSU but Eastern responded to the level of play and did something no other team had done against the Panthers.

Sophomore Sandra Sasidharan and junior Madina Mambetova dealt Meghana Paritak and Agnese Pukse their first losses of the season in No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Then Mambetova combined with her new doubles partner Wirtz, and Sasidharan joined her new partner Stephanie Harmazy in handing UNI losses at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.

Sasidharan and Mambetova were undefeated as partners during the fall season and early spring season.

Regardless of that success, coach Blackburn decided to split them up and use their talents in two different matches.

“When I first decided to split them up it was in Indiana (against IPFW),” Blackburn said. “I did it then without them having any practice together and they played so well together raw. I knew that with a couple of weeks of practice they would be successful.”

Sasidharan has now improved to 7-0 in singles play for the spring season and she, along with Mambetova, won both of their matches with their new partners.

“It’s been good for the team so far,” Mambetova said. “I played with Jill before, last year, and it has been nice being back together with her.”

The Panther women (2-5) will join the men (3-2) in St. Louis this weekend when they take on the Billikins of Saint Louis University.