The Eastern women’s tennis team defeated Southern Indiana, winning the match 8-1 on Sunday in Evansville, Ind.

The Panthers controlled the match winning five out the six singles matches in straight sets.


The Panthers were aggressive and dictated the pace in doubles competition, senior Kristen Laird said. 
Eastern won all three of its doubles matches.


The duo of sophomore Sephora Boulbahaiem, and freshman Hannah Kimbrough won the No. 1 flight in doubles over Morgan Coquerille and Ellena Stumpf (8-2).


Senior Kristen Laird and freshman Ali Foster worked together to win a tightly contested match in the second spot, winning their match over Lindsey White and Elizabeth Wilm (9-8).


“In doubles, we believe the more aggressive team from the net and baseline, is the team that has the best chance of winning,” Laird said.


At the No. 2 doubles flight, the combination of junior Jennifer Kim and Senior Merritt Whitely had a decisive win, beating Logan Ackerman and Autumn Fair (8-3).


Head coach, John Blackburn, said the team was ready to come out and play.


Laird along with fellow senior Whitley and Boulbahaiem overwhelmed their singles opponents winning (6-1, 6-3) defeating Stumpf, (6-0, 6-2) downing White, (6-2, 6-0) and winning at the No. 1 flight over Coquerille.

“Overall I was happy with how I played,” Laird said. “In practice we worked on changing the height and pace of the ball by implementing the lob, short angle and drop shot.”


Blackburn said he was impressed by the entire team and said the performances by Laird, Whitely and Boulbahaiem stood out.


“The girls came out and were ready to compete, which is always important,” Blackburn said. “They were able to execute the things we worked on during practice and it was evident in their play.”


Kim was also victorious in her singles match, defeating Fair (6-4, 6-0) at the No. 5 spot. Foster, won in straight sets, (6-1, 6-4), at the No. 6 spot beating Ackerman.


Blackburn said the girls were successful because they executed throughout the day.


“They were able to be competitive and win their matches by controlling rallies,” he said.


The lone win for Southern Indiana came from Elizabeth Wilm at the No. 3 flight in singles competition over Kimbrough in a close match that ended (7-6, 6-4).


Senior captain, Laird said she saw a lot of improvement from the previous tournament by the rest of the team, including her play on the court.

Blackburn said the season is still young, and with several young players there is still time to improve.

The Eastern women’s tennis team will see its next action at the Southern Illinois Fall Shootout on Oct. 14, in Carbondale.

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