The women’s tennis team started its weekend with a 3-4 loss to Eastern Kentucky and ended on a high note with a 7-0 sweep over Morehead State.

The win and the loss put the Panthers at 13-7 and 7-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Saturday’s matchup saw the Panthers take an early lead as two wins in doubles play defaulted the third to unfinished.

Junior Kelly Iden and senior Ali Foster took on Hayley Wild and Maria Orellena at the No. 2 spot. The Panther duo rolled past their Eagle opponents 6-3.

At the No. 3 position, junior Kamile Stadalninkaite and freshman Srishti Slaria trumped Lindsey Wild and Aleksandra Savic with another 6-3 score.

Sophomore Grace Summers and senior Hannah Kimbrough’s No. 1 match against Ayaka Terashi and Zina Mehikic went unfinished, ending at a 4-4 tie.

Eastern took each of the six singles contests.

Freshman Abby Carpenter had a stellar showing at the No. 6 position. Carpenter swept both sets against Lindsey Wild, winning 6-0 each time.

Kimbrough defeated Savic in a three-set contest, 6-1, 3-6, 11-7.

Summers and Slaria beat Hayley Wild and Orellena in their respective competitions 7-5, 6-1.

Iden competed against Terashi at the No. 1 spot and won 6-4, 6-1. Foster also posted a win over Mehikic 7-5, 6-2.

The match puts Morehead State at 3-17 overall and 3-7 in the conference.

Eastern dropped a close competition to Eastern Kentucky Friday moving the Colonels to 13-9 on the season and 8-1 in the conference.

The Panthers started the match strong with two wins in doubles.

Summers and Kimbrough added to their winning record with a 7-5 win over the Colonels’ Laura Argente and Raquel Montalvo.

Iden and Foster breezed past Viktorija Demcenkova and Margaux Lacroix, earning a 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot.

Stadalninkaite and Slaria took a 6-1 loss in their matchup with Corentine Bodin and Marina Marti.

Eastern won just two of the six singles contests this time around.

Foster and Summers had back-to-back victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.

Foster beat Demcenkova in an exciting three-set matchup. Foster edged her opponent in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win.

Summers toppled Bodin with twin 6-4 set scores.

Kimbrough and Carpenter took each of their matches to three sets as well. Kimbrough fell to Marti 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Carpenter dropped her match against Monalvo 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

In the No. 1 matchup, Iden kept pace with Argente but ended up losing 6-4, 6-3 to her counterpart.

Slaria’s No. 4 contest with Lacroix ended in a 6-3, 6-4 result in favor of Lacroix.

The Panthers will begin OVC Tournament play on April 22 at the Centennial Sportsplex Tennis Center in Nashville, Tenn. for the second straight year.

Kaitlin Cordes can be reached at 581-2812 or krcordes@eiu.edu.