The EIU men’s and women’s tennis teams have had a difficult year, having a transition in coaches between the fall and winter seasons. However, the women’s team is now ready to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
The men’s team was not able to qualify for the Horizon League tournament, but the women’s team is entering the postseason after winning only one meet.
“If you can put together a solid week at the OVC tournament, you can still win the conference and qualify for the NCAA tournament,” head coach Robin Cambier said. “That’s kind of why we haven’t really talked about any results and not even have talked about the tournament yet because no matter who we play or what seed we are, you’ve got to still win three matches.”
The women’s team has only one win as a team, but they have seen some solo success. Sophomore Aleyla Wooten won the OVC player of the week award twice already, first on March 27 and again on April 9.
“After I got two player of the weeks, it just showed that the hard work that I’ve been doing in practice and out of practice has really been paying off,” Wooten said.
This year, the women’s tennis team saw many new players join. Senior Addison Brown is one of only three other players returning from last year. As a senior leader, she said she had to hold everyone accountable, as there was no head coach for the first three meets of the winter season.
“It was a pretty brand-new team this year, so it’s been really cool to see just as the matches go on,” Brown said, “You go through some bad days; sometimes girls are crying, and the other teammates are there to lift each other up. Everything just counts in that.”
Brown is the only senior on the team. She has been at Eastern for all four years and is excited for her final OVC tournament.
“I know I have more to do, and I still hope for the best for this team,” Brown said. “Even though it’s been a rough year, I think we still have a really good chance to go far. So, I don’t think it’s really registered that it’s about to be over because it’s not over in my head yet.”
Eastern is looking to make up for a rough season and finish strong. The Panthers have had many injuries over the year, but they have been looking to get better all year for the OVC tournament.
“The way that our conference is set up, we can keep focusing on getting better throughout the whole season,” Cambier said. “We’ve kind of been unlucky with injuries and sickness, but overall, I think the girls have improved a lot. Now, I would really love to have a fully healthy lineup by the OVC tournament.”
Eastern is the sixth seed and will face the third seed, the University of Southern Indiana, on Friday at 3 p.m. in the first round of the OVC tournament.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.
