The Eastern women’s tennis team will play at Southern Indiana without its top-performing junior on Sunday. Janelle Prisner, still rehabbing from a wrist surgery performed earlier this year, will not compete in this weekend’s competition.

Prisner said she had wrist surgery two weeks prior to the start of summer. The junior said she had the surgery due to the wear and tear of playing tennis. The returning junior will be missed Sunday as she sported a singles record of 12-7 a year ago.

Prisner along with returning senior Merritt Whitley also had a dominant stretch last season in doubles play as the duo won nine consecutive matches starting in March and ending in April. Prisner said she began hitting again this week.

“I started hitting on Monday, but it was just an evaluation,” she said. “There is no set date for my return. It all depends on how my body responds.” The junior said she will be ready for the spring season. The Eastern women are coming off a solid showing at the SIUE Fall Invitational where Coach John Blackburn said he was pleased with the overall performance. Eastern’s opponent, Southern Indiana, played a week ago and did not fare well at the ITA Midwest Regional. The Screaming Eagles ended the tournament with a disappointing 2-9 record.

Junior Jennifer Kim said the team is prepared for the match on Sunday.

“We plan on staying both mentally and physically tough in every point against Southern Indiana,” Kim said.

“Our team was more aggressive at the invitational than we have been in the past and we plan to step it up even more against Southern Indiana.” Blackburn said.

He also said he is looking for the team captains to show leadership throughout the year.

The team has five returning players including two seniors and a junior that serve as the captains. Senior Kristen Laird, is one of the captains and said she along with fellow senior Merritt Whitley and junior Janelle Prisner know the importance of being leaders on the team.

“I try to keep the girls positive at every practice and work on things that will help us improve after every match,” Laird said. The team also welcomes three freshmen to the squad.

“I’m excited about the prospects this year,” Blackburn said. “We have a very deep team, so I think everyone will push each other each day in practice to get better.”

The three new players, Alex Curtis, Ali Foster, and Hannah Kimbrough all recorded singles victories in their respective flights at the SIUE tournament.

Kim, who recorded a 1-2 record at No. 2 Flights in the same event said she is looking forward to seeing her new teammates compete during the season.

“We may have lost three seniors, but our new freshmen are intense competitors,” she said.

Laird also said the team has a lot of potential and is excited to see how the team will perform this year,

She added that it is important for the new players to feel comfortable when playing.

“If they are having fun competing then they will be relaxed, and this will help them play their best tennis,” Laird said.

The upcoming dual match will start at 1 p.m. in Evansville, Ind.

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