The Eastern Illinois men’s tennis team lost its third straight match on Saturday against the Northern Illinois Huskies, 5-2.

Senior Robert Skolik, at the number one spot, won in straight sets 6-0, 6-4, over NIU’s Carlos Manzanas, while senior Ryan Henderson, in the number two spot, defeated Tom Hjertonsson 6-3, 6-0.

“They both took control from the onset and were relentless until they closed out the matches. Rob is really starting to find his form and gain confidence, and Ryan continues to play well as he has in our first 3 matches,” coach Sam Kercheval said.

For the Panthers, senior Jacob Wendell and sophomore Jared Woodson both made their first appearances of the season. Wendell, playing at the number six spot on short notice, lost to NIU’s Erich Schuette 6-1, 6-1 only playing in singles. Woodson paired up with sophomore Grant Reiman in doubles and lost, 6-3 to NIU’s Schuette and Austin Russell, 6-3. Both Woodson and Wendell came off of injuries and have been limited in practice. Sophomore Trent Reiman was out with an injury.

“From the beginning, we have always said that at some point, we will need every one of the guys to step in and compete whenever they are called upon,” Kercheval said. “This was a time we needed some other guys to step up.”

Senior Rui Silva lost to NIU’s Georg Lundkvist 6-2, 6-1. Kevin Daun defeated Reiman 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Ognjen Jevtic lost 6-3, 6-0 to Russell.

“We play with the strategy we have worked on in practice and look to implement it in matches,” Kercheval said. “Some of the things in practice came through during our match with NIU, but we need to continue to work on being able to execute those against any type of player.”

The Panthers were swept in doubles play by the Huskies. Jevtic and Henderson lost 6-4 to Manzanas and Hjertonsson. Silva and Skolik lost to Daun and Lundkvist, 6-4.

The Panthers are looking at the positives from the match against NIU.

“Robert and Ryan finding their rhythm in singles and our doubles play continuing to get better are important things going forward,’’ Kercheval said.

The Panthers will travel to Champaign Friday to take on Western Illinois at the Champaign Park District.

Tyler McCluskey can be reached at 5810-2812 or trmccluskey@eiu.edu