The Eastern women’s and men’s tennis teams will both continue their Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend, with matches against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.

The Eastern men play back-to-back days, facing The Golden Eagles Saturday then the Gamecocks Sunday.

The Panthers are coming off a split in their first two OVC matches, losing to Morehead State, but then beating Eastern Kentucky on the road.

The men’s squad for Tennessee Tech lost its last OVC match against the Gamecocks after starting conference play with a 7-0 win against Murray State.

Jacksonville State is 1-1 in OVC play, losing its conference opener 5-2 to Austin Peay.

The Eastern women started the season 6-0, but lost both of their OVC matches last weekend against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.

The women will play in Terre Haute, Ind., where they will host Jacksonville State on Sunday morning.

Jacksonville State’s women’s team is 6-8 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Gamecocks are coming off a 6-1 loss to Murray State Tuesday. The match was postponed because of rain, as it was scheduled to be played Sunday.

Last season, the Jacksonville State women defeated Eastern 5-2.

Eastern junior Sephora Boulbahaiem is the only Panther who won a singles match against the Gamecocks in last season’s match.

Sophomore Ali Foster leads the Eastern squad with a 7-1 record in singles play this season.

Senior Janelle Prisner, freshman Kelly Iden and Boulbahaiem all have 5-3 records in singles competition.

The Panthers have won the majority of their doubles matches this season, as the team has a combined 17-6 record.

Boulbahaiem and Prisner lead the way with a 7-1 doubles record.

Foster along with fellow sophomore Hannah Kimbrough have a 6-2 record in doubles competition.

Senior Kevin Bauman and sophomore Robert Skolik lead the Eastern men’s squad as each Panther has won six singles matches this season.

The sophomore dup of Ryan Henderson and Rui Silva has a team-best 7-2 record in doubles matches this season.

First serve for the men’s match against Tennessee Tech starts at 1 p.m. Saturday at CHS Courts.

The men’s match against Jacksonville State starts at noon Sunday at the Wabash Valley Tennis Club in Terre Haute, Ind., where the women’s match will also be played at, beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday.

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