Eastern’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will be back on the court this weekend, restarting their season after a three-month break from competitive play.

The men’s team will play at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, and the women’s team will play Valparaiso in Champaign.

The tennis teams have not played competitively since the middle of October. The men’s team last played in the Louisville Invitational ending on Oct. 14. The women’s most recent competitive action was on Oct. 20 at the ITA Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The men’s team views the winter layoff as advantage more than adversity.

“We’re hungry. We’re fresh,” junior Vuk Milicevic said.

Junior Jordan Nestrud said the team was “rejuvenated” by having time off to regroup.

The women’s team seems to share slightly more mixed emotions concerning how the time off will affect their play.

“I think we’re going to be a bit more rusty than we would midway through the season,” junior Natalie Martin said.

However, Martin also said the pre-conference schedule allows for some time to tune up before Ohio Valley Conference play starts in the second half of March.

Eastern tennis coach John Blackburn emphasized match play to keep the team focused on competition during the long break from competitive play.

“We take each match seriously,” senior Stephanie Harmazy said.

Harmazy plays No. 6 on the women’s team and Martin, a team captain, has noticed Harmazy’s improvement. Martin also commended sophomore Hayley Homburg on her recent play.

“She’s gonna be amazing this season,” Martin said.

Last season Homburg played her way to 16-6 record and was named OVC Freshman of the Year.

On the men’s side, both Nestrud and sophomore Jeff Rutherford have improved substantially according to their teammates and coach.

Nestrud made the jump this year to the men’s No. 3 spot, after playing sixth in all but one match last season in singles.

Nestrud said Rutherford has improved his game and he is impressed with his performance.

Blackburn said the improvement of the men’s and women’s team should be key this weekend in their respective matches against IPFW and Valparaiso. Blackburn said both teams share a great deal of depth.

“There is a very minimal drop off in play as you go down the line,” he said.

JC Clark can be reached at 581-7944 or at jrclark2@eiu.edu.

Men’s tennis player Jeff Rutherford forehands a volley during tennis practice at the Lantz Field House on Thursday afternoon, The Panthers open up their season this Saturday at Indiana Purdue Fort-Wayne. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

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