The Eastern men’s tennis team will compete in the SIU Saluki Invitational on Oct. 18 in Carbondale.

Head coach Eric Stark is happy with how things have been going in the fall so far in practice and in the last tournament that was at Eastern.

The team went 24-5 in singles in the last tournament and look to continue that success into this invitational.

“The guys are hungry,” coach Eric Said. “I can’t be more happy with where we’re headed.”

Stark is also very happy with how the freshman came in and have been succeeding right away.

“Anytime you bring in four freshman, you never know what you’re going to get with them,” he said. “ You hope they are what they are. They’ve all worked hard, you can’t even look out and tell who a freshman is anymore.”

The team is looking forward to the spring regular season since they don’t get to see much action in the fall. Some of the team’s members competed in an individual tournament last weekend where they saw some of the best competition and were able to do well. Stark was impressed because he knows they are getting better.

The team hasn’t played a “team match” yet in the fall and everything has been tournament based. Stark is excited for the tough competition that the men will face to see where the team stands and how they are able to handle playing in the team setting. He said he wants to see how they do in the team setting rather than what they have been doing.

The SIU Invitational consists of two matches, so everyone on the team should get at least on match in.

Stark knows that the team is very talented, it is just them believing that they are.

He wants the team to make sure they have the confidence that they belong out there with anyone because they have taken that step forward to becoming a good team. It is just believing that they are that good.

The team has been practicing all through out the fall to be ready for the fall season and be ready to compete in the invitational at Southern.

This is the last scheduled event for the team. It will be the last live action against another school that they will see until the spring season rolls around.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 217-581-2812 or smhastings@eiu.edu.