The Panthers’ tennis squads hit the road this weekend as the men were able to snap their seven-match losing streak as they beat Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis 4-3, while the women fell to Ball State 7-0 Saturday.

The men battled hard in a close match against IUPUI for a victory.

Head tennis coach John Blackburn said he feels good about the win, but still wants to push his players.

“I think we can still play a lot better,” Blackburn said. “But having said that, we have been struggling getting wins over the last few matches, so it’s good to pick up the win.”

The team was led by senior Jeff Rutherford who defeated his opponent Deon Shafer in a dominate fashion 6-0, 6-2.

Rutherford now sits with an overall singles record of 5-6.

Freshman Justin Haag was unsuccessful in gaining a W, though, losing in three sets against IUPUI’s Joel Modesitt 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Haag’s singles record drop to 8-3 on the season.

Freshman Warren Race, sophomore Matyas Hilgert and freshman Michael Sperry also won singles matches.

“We had four guys step up pretty big in the singles matches after we lost the doubles point,” Blackburn said.

In doubles, the Panthers came up short in a strong performance by losing 2 of 3 matches.

The lone doubles win for the men came from Rutherford and Haag winning 8-4 over the team of Bren Vasalakis and Malcolm Peace.

The doubles team of sophomore Matyas Hilgert and freshman Warren Race lost a heart breaker 9-8 to Deon Shafer and Nick Volz.

The 2-5 women squad traveled to Muncie, Ind. Saturday to challenge the 5-4 Ball State Cardinals.

The women Panthers were swept by the Cardinals 7-0 Saturday.

Blackburn and his players could only tip their hats to Ball State’s play.

“We were competitive in spots at times; but ultimately, they played a lot better than we did,” Blackburn said.

Tennis action continues as the women playIUPUI for their first home match at 2 p.m. Wednesdayat the Darling Courts and the men will travel to Michigan State on Saturday at 9 a.m.

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