Eastern men’s tennis team took their first loss of the season 6-1 against No. 48 Purdue at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Panthers (0-1) struggled in doubles matches as they lost all three of the matches, which never established the duo point.

Ricky Medinilla and Diego Acosta for Purdue defeated Panthers’ Robert Skolik and Preston Touliatos 6-3.

Arthur Dobradin and Renan Hanayama defeated the Panther duo of Ryan Henderson and Rui Silva 6-2.

Mateus Silva and Lucas Dages defeated Grant Reiman/Trent Reiman – 6-4.

Grant Reiman was the only player to win a match for the Panthers.

Coach Eric Stark said he’s extremely happy with the way the teamed played even though the score may look one-sided.

“To be that close to the number 48 ranked team in the nation with one week of practice, on the road at a Big Ten school shows the potential for a great upcoming season,” Stark said.

The freshman Reiman defeated Matt Bouggy 6-1 and 6-2 in the only Eastern victory of the day.

“Grant Reiman was very professional today, which is great to see in a freshman playing his first collegiate match,’ Stark said.

In high school, Reiman finished with a 129-23 total record at Morton high School, which including singles and doubles marks of 33-10 and 96-13.

He earned First Team All-Conference three times and Second Team All-State honors in doubles.

In singles matches, Medinilla defeated Grant Thompson 6-2, 6-3.

“I thought GT played a fantastic match against a kid who is ranked in the top 85 in the nation,” Stark said.

Thompson split time between No. 2 and No. 3 singles as a true freshman, while also seeing some play at No. 4 and No. 6 last season and looks to improve his record this season.

“He has shown a great progression from last year to this year, and if he plays like that he will surprise quite a few players,” Stark said.

He said the squad should take away nothing but confidence from the matches and get excited to get back on the tennis court.

“I give full credit to the Purdue players, they never gave us an inch and we will continue to improve on being decisive in those big point situations,” Stark said.

Other singles matches included, Diego Acosta defeating Touliatos 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, Mateus Silva defeating Skolik 6-2, 6-3, Hanayama defeating Henderson 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6), and Dobradin defeating Rui Silva 6-3, 6-1

Eastern’s next match is Sunday at Ball State University.

Cody Delmendo can be reached at 581-2812 or cddelmendo@eiu.edu.