Eastern’s men’s and women’s tennis teams’ spring seasons are in full swing.  

Currently Eastern’s men’s team holds a (5-15) record, and the women’s team has a (3-13) record. The teams have both seen improvements this year since last spring. Whereas the men were (3-19) overall, and the women were (1-21) to end last spring season.  

With both teams already accumulating two more wins and around a month left of the spring season to play, the Panthers still have the chance to build upon this season’s improvement.  

Eastern’s Director of Tennis and men’s coach Robin Cambier said the improvement from both teams have been a combination of three things: recruiting fresh faces to the team, having a well-balanced strong schedule and putting in the work to develop a relatively young roster.  

This weekend, both teams will get the chance to build on their season with men’s tennis entering its first conference match and the women’s team competing against its last out of conference opponent, McKendree.

Men’s Tennis

Heading into Saturday, the Panthers are coming off a road trip last weekend to St. Louis. While in St. Louis, the Panthers took a close fought 3-4 loss against the University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons, but the Panthers came back to pick up a 5-2 win against the Maryville University Saints.  

Going into this Saturday’s Horizon League conference opener, the Panthers are facing off against the 2-9 Tennessee State Tigers.  

“I look forward to seeing our guys compete really hard at home to try to defend our home courts,” Cambier said. “Hopefully, we can come out strong in doubles and sustain our level of tennis, competitiveness and energy throughout the entire match.” 

The Panthers had more matches this season than their opponents, the Tigers. With that added experience throughout the season, the Panthers are looking to try to beat the team that last year played in the conference semifinals.

With only four conference matches against conference opponents, every match will matter greatly in order for the men’s team to make the Horizon League Tournament. With two divisions of five teams, only the top three teams from the North and South divisions will get to play for the Horizon League Tennis Championship.

“I wish we maybe had won one or two more matches heading into the conference schedule, but I am confident that with the strong non-conference schedule that we played that the team is ready for conference play,” Cambier said.  

The Panthers home match against Tennessee State is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Darling Courts.

Women’s Tennis 

The Panthers are coming off of a win in their first conference match of the season at Tennessee State. In this conference opener, the Panthers used their singles play to their advantage.  

Four members of the team won their individual singles matches: sophomores Charleigh Fay and Michelle Kostadinova, junior Aleyla Wooten, senior Luisa Renovales Salazar.

In doubles play, the team of Wooten and Fay were the only pairing that won their set, winning 6-3. 

Although one singles match went unfinished and the Panthers overall lost in doubles play, the Panthers were still able to claim victory off the back of singles play, winning 4-2 against the Tigers. 

Winning their first conference match parallels last season as the team was able to win last year’s opener against Western Illinois 6-1. That win was the only one the Panthers were able to get, recording an overall record of 1-21 during the spring 2024 season.  

This season, Wooten has seen a lot of progress out of her and her teammates’ game week by week. 

“The biggest difference between this season and the last is confidence within ourselves and each other,” Wooten said. “I believe everyone is in a much better head space and because of that, we’re able to go out there and play our best tennis.”

So far this season, the team has been improving from last season. With a record of 3-13 with six regular season matches remaining, they have already improved by two wins.  

Heading towards Sunday, the Panthers are taking on the McKendree Bearcats, who have a 3-9 record. 

“I’m looking to play smart and aggressive in singles and in doubles,” Wooten said. “Fighting for every point and not stopping until we shake hands at the end of the match.”  

Eastern’s match against McKendree is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on Sunday at the Terre Haute Tennis & Pickleball Center.

The Bearcats will be coming off of a match the day before Harding University (5-8). With the Panthers not playing since March 15, rest may play into the neutral sight match.  

This match will be the last test the team will have against an out of conference opponent. The rest of the season will be against Ohio Valley Conference opponents as the conference gears towards their tournament in St. Louis on Thursday April 15. 

Gunnar Olson can be reached at 581-2812 or at deneic@gmail.com.