The women’s tennis team hit the road for Bloomington, Friday to try to put a stop to a two-match losing skid but were unsuccessful as they fell to the Redbirds 7-0, failing to pick up a point.

With the loss, the Panthers fell to 2-5 on the season, while the Redbirds strengthened their record to 7-3.

Sophomore Shannon Brooks and freshman Merritt Whitley had a tough day losing in straight sets.

In Brooks’ singles match, she lost to Franziska Steinhardt 6-3, 6-2, while Whitley dropped her match to Ariane Maack 6-4, 6-3.

The strong play of junior Cara Huck led to the only three set match of the night but she couldn’t pull it out, losing 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 to Julia Zubkova.

The women will hit the road Saturday to take on Ball State University at 1pm.

The Panther men also had a tough weekend as they traveled to Milwaukee and lost their double header.

They dropped their first match to Marquette 6-1.

The lone win came off the racket of freshman Michael Sperry over Drake Kakar 6-7, 6-3, 1-0, (10-7).

Senior Jeff Rutherford lost a hard fought match to Dusan Medan 6-3, 0-6, 6-4.

After the loss to Marquette, the Panthers had no time to rest, as they had to take on Wisconsin-Green Bay, falling 5-2.

The lone singles win came from freshman Justin Haag beating Josh Oothoudt in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.

The win for Haag boosts his overall record to 6-2 – a team high.

The Panthers’ men now sit with a record of 2-7 going into their next match on Wednesday, as they will take on Bradley University at 1p.m. in Peoria.

Dane Urban can be reached at 581-7944 or dcurban@eiu.edu.

Freshman Kristen Laird returns the ball during Monday night practice in the Lantz Fieldhouse, after a tough loss to Illinois State last Friday.(Chelsea Grady/The Daily Eastern News)

(more…)