It’s do or die for the Eastern men’s and women’s tennis teams this weekend as they will challenge two Ohio Valley Conference foes against Murray State Saturday 2 p.m. in Murray, Ky. and Austin Peay noon Sunday at Darling Courts.

Both Eastern squads will fight to improve their conference records for higher seeds in the OVC Tournament as the women hold a 3-4 OVC record, good for sixth. The men’s team has a 1-4 record, good for fifth in the conference.

The men (4-13, 1-4 OVC) have a chance to turn their season around with a couple of wins that would separate themselves from being in a three-way tied for fifth with the Racers and Governors, whom they play this weekend.

“We are trying to stay mentally strong and realizing that these are our last chances,” freshman Warren Race said. “We want to finish (the season) strong.”

Murray State (4-10, 1-4 OVC) and Austin Peay (4-5, 1-4 OVC) have fallen on hard times this season, both with records sub .500.

The Panthers will have a chance to increase the possibility of getting a higher seed in the OVC Tournament with a weekend sweep.

“If we win both matches, we probably won’t have to face the No. 1 seed or even the No. 2 seed in the tournament,” Race said.

This week in practice, the men have been playing simulated matches to prepare for the busy weekend.

“We are doing some practice matches to keep ourselves focused throughout the whole match and just working on staying with every point,” Race said.

The women (6-10, 3-4 OVC) will also be looking to improve their OVC standing with two wins.

The Panthers would reach five wins total this season, with a sweep this weekend, placing them as the third OVC team with five wins, depending on how Eastern Kentucky (11-14, 5-3 OVC) and Tennessee Martin (8-5, 5-2 OVC) do this weekend.

Eastern Kentucky is playing matches today against Lee in Cleveland, Tenn. at noon and will stay on the road Saturday to play Jacksonville State at noon in Jacksonville, Ala.

Tennessee Martin will be playing twice this weekend as well, Friday against Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. in Martin, Tenn., then they will play again Sunday against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 2 p.m. also at home.

Sunday’s home matches for the men’s and women’s teams will be their first home matches since April 4. The men were slated to play Southern Illinois-Carbondale at home Wednesday, but it was rained out.

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

Junior Cara Huck returns the ball Sunday morning during the match against Tennessee State at Darling Courts. (Audrey Sawyer / The Daily Eastern News)

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