Eastern’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will compete at the Southern Illinois Fall Shootout on Sunday in Carbondale.

Both teams are coming off victories against Southern Indiana and Missouri-St. Louis, respectively.

Head coach John Blackburn said the teams have been hard at work during practice.

“We are still focusing on each player’s skills and play on the court,” he said.

The men’s team is coming off their only home appearance this fall with great confidence in their doubles play.

The Panthers were able to sweep the three matches of the doubles portion of their match against Missouri-St. Louis last Wednesday en route to a 4-3 win.

The women’s team has not seen action since their win in Evansville, recording a 8-1 win over the Screaming Eagles.

Senior Warren Race remains undefeated in doubles play this fall and said he is looking forward to the tournament at Southern Illinois-Carbondale.

“We are excited to play this weekend. We are excited to prove ourselves and see the work we have put in during practice pay off,” Race said. “We have been working on our skills and we want to see how they will work for us.”

Blackburn said both teams have shown improvement as the early weeks of the fall season have passed.

Blackburn highlighted the men’s doubles team of freshman Robert Skolik and Race.

The duo have teamed up to win the B Flight championship at the team’s first tournament at Wright State in September and also recorded a win in doubles competition against Missouri-St. Louis.

The women’s team also joins the men in quality doubles play.

Freshman Ali Foster and senior Kristen Laird won three doubles matches in mid-September at the SIU Edwardsville Fall Invitational and in their road match against Southern Indiana.

Foster also has won three singles matches this year, including two at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

The women’s team will be led by sophomore Sephora Boulbahaiem, who won two singles matches at the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville tournament and won convincingly against Southern Indiana.

Junior and first year player for the men’s team, Anthony Hallam has not seen action since the Wright State tournament, but said he continues to work on his game during practice.

“I believe that our hard work during practice will give us a good chance this weekend,” Hallam said.

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