At season’s end, Panther tennis will say goodbye to one of its strongest players in recent history as senior Jeff Rutherford will walk across the graduation stage.

Rutherford has played four years for the Panthers, something not seen too often.

The past three years, Rutherford has played with 16 different teammates, proving the average tennis career does not last much longer than a year or so.

When thinking back on getting to this point, he remembered the teammates who helped him cope with the pressures and responsibilities he faced.

“When I was a freshman here, I was lucky to have some of the older guys help me out with stuff that they had already gone through,” Rutherford said.

Another figure who helped him become a No. 1 tennis player was his father Jack Rutherford.

Back home in Richmond, Ky., Rutherford’s father was also his high school coach at Model Lab.

Rutherford said he believes having his father coach him was a big advantage in maturing as a tennis player.

“It helped a lot because he was never afraid to tell me when I was doing something wrong,” Rutherford said. “I always got a deeper analysis, because when we were sitting at home he would always tell me how I could improve as a player.”

With his father’s guidance, Rutherford’s skills brought him to the Panthers’ tennis program.

Rutherford decided to play for Eastern after a recruiting trip with the team welcoming him.

“I came on a recruiting trip and I really liked the guys on the team,” he said. “They really showed me a good time.”

Rutherford took only two seasons to reach the No. 1 spot in the lineup.

Playing in that spot is no easy task in tennis; it means one will face the other team’s top player every match.

“It’s definitely tough because you have to play every team’s best player every single match, so it’s definitely mentally taxing,” he said.

As a No.1 at a Division I school, there are no easy matches a player can slide through; however, Rutherford said his team’s support makes playing easier.

“You have to be mentally prepared, there are no free matches like there is in high school,” he said. “It’s nice when you have a lot of support from your teammates and coaches and it helps out a lot.”

Rutherford knows playing as the No. 1, the matches are tougher and setting up quality seasonal expectation is important to be consistent.

“I definitely have to temper my expectations towards my record because it would be unrealistic to think that you are going to have a record of 18-2,” Rutherford said.

Playing a sport while dealing with school is not always easy for student athletes like Rutherford because their daily schedule is packed.

They have to juggle several workloads throughout the year, but Rutherford made it work.

“It’s definitely a mental and physical challenge trying to juggle everything like the team, the school work and even my social life,” he said. “I enjoy taking on the challenge, though.”

Looking toward the future, Rutherford will graduate with a business degree and sees himself pursuing graduate school.

Tennis won’t be far out of the picture, though, as he plans on sticking around the game to help others just like he was helped throughout his career.

“I would love to coach somewhere down the road,” he said. “I’m not sure what level but I would love to help others get through what I have gone through.”

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

Senior Jeff Rutherford returns a serve during the match against Tennessee State Sunday morning at Darling Courts.(Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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