Men’s head tennis coach John Blackburn is looking forward to improving the team’s 4-13 record from a year ago.

Blackburn said the team will be better this year because of the depth on the roster with five returning players including two seniors.

Coach Blackburn said he is looking for seniors Warren Race and Michael Sperry to lead the team this year.

The Eastern men’s tennis team competed at the Raider Shootout at Wright State in Dayton, Ohio over the weekend.

Junior Kevin Bauman teamed up with Sperry in the A Flight Doubles.

The duo lost their first match 8-6, and also lost by the same score in their second match.

Sperry said he has worked hard during the summer to improve his speed and endurance.

“I did uphill sprints and tennis court suicides every day after practice over the summer time,” he said.

Sperry lost his first round match in the A Flight Singles, but bounced back to record three wins in the backdraw en route to capturing the consolation championship.

Hayden Joblin and Jamison Clark from Wright State won the A Flight Doubles final defeating their opponents from Vincennes 8-6.

The B and C Flight Doubles players for Eastern were able to reach the finals of their competitions.

Freshman Robert Skolik and Race won the B Flight Doubles final over Jose Limon and Juan Andres Hirmas from Robert Morris 8-4.

Race has now won the finals of the B Flight Doubles at this tournament in two consecutive years.

Race said he learned from watching other players and from the different styles they have.

“I think this was a good starting point for our team,” Race said. “We can learn from our mistakes and the different situations we were in to hopefully improve throughout the season.”

The freshman Portuguese recruit, Rui Silva was paired up with sophomore David Constantinescu in the C Flight Doubles.

The pair lost in the finals 8-5.

The freshmen and sophomore duo said they were pleased with their performance, but will work harder to improve in their next match.

Northern Kentucky were also winners at the Raider shootout, as they won the D Flight Doubles, 8-1 over Walsh.

Northern Kentucky also won the A and B Flight Singles finals.

Vincennes won the C Flight Singles over Northwestern Ohio.

The Racers also reached the D Flight Singles final match, but lost to Ohio Dominican 6-2, 6-1.

Constantinescu, Skolik and Race all recorded two wins in singles play.

Coach Blackburn said he saw improvement in the team as the weekend passed.

“I felt the freshmen as a group played well,” Blackburn said. “We are always looking to improve from one match to the next and we did.”

Blackburn also highlighted the performances of Silva during the doubles matches, and said he was impressed with Skolik and Race as they were able to reach the semifinals of their singles matches.

With four new players to the team, Sperry said he hopes the team can build some chemistry early on.

“We try to and do as much as possible together as a team,” Sperry said. “It is important to build unity amongst our team.”

The senior said he expects the team to peak for the spring season.

Race, the other returning senior, said he felt the tournament served as a great experience for the freshmen.

Blackburn said he expects for every individual to improve as the season progresses.

“I expect for us to improve after every competition, just the way we did during this weekend,” Blackburn said.

Eastern will return to action when it hosts Missouri-St. Louis at 2 p.m. Oct. 3 at Darling Courts.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812or asoto2@eiu.edu.