The Eastern men’s tennis received its seed for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in a most unusual way.

The Panthers, along with Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky, finished in a three-way tie for third place with identical 6-3 records in the conference. Eastern Illinois beat Eastern Kentucky but lost to JSU. And JSU lost to EKU.

The teams remained in a dead heat after the initial tiebreakers, and each team’s seeding came down to drawing names out of a hat.

EKU’s name was drawn first, giving them the No. 3 seed, then Eastern Illinois, then the Gamecocks.

The Panthers (13-8) will be entering the tournament 10 a.m. Friday as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 JSU (11-8) in Nashville, Tenn.

The men’s team is confident headed into the tournament.

Senior Chris Thomas said he is excited about his final opportunity to compete for Eastern and likes the Panthers’ chances.

“We’ve got a lot of momentum going into the conference tournament,” Thomas said. “It’s been a special year for Eastern.”

This is the first time Eastern has finished third in the conference since they did it in 2003 and 2004, and it is the highest finish in Eastern head coach John Blackburn’s tenure in three years.

Additionally, Eastern will be looking to avenge a close 4-3 loss to Jacksonville State on April 6 at Darling Courts.

Junior Jordan Nestrud said they know they can beat JSU because of the results of the last meet.

“We were right there with them,” Nestrud said. “I felt we were the better team that day.”

Nestrud also said the doubles point would be valuable and that it could once again be the difference in Friday’s match.

If Eastern defeats JSU, they will play top-seeded Tennessee Tech (18-4) at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The women’s team had more at stake in its tiebreaker, and the result ended the Panthers’ season.

Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin all finished 5-5 in conference and tied for fifth place in the league.

The OVC coaches not involved in the tiebreaker were called to vote in the final two teams invited to the six-team tournament.

The coach’s vote left the Panthers (13-7) out of the tourney and ended their postseason aspirations.

“I think the conference needs to take a look at how they do these tiebreakers,” Blackburn said. “I think there are a lot better solutions.”

Junior Natalie Martin said she felt the team did everything in its power this season to advance, and the cards simply didn’t fall in Eastern’s favor.

“We had a great season, and we hoped for the best, but it just didn’t work out for us,” Martin said.

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

Junior Jordan Nestrud beat Anton Leonenko of Southern Illinois during the Panther’s home match at Darling Courts on Wednesday. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

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