After having the past weekend off, the Eastern Washington University tennis teams will be busy this weekend. The women's team plays on Friday, Feb. 10 at Gonzaga with matches at 5 p.m. They play again on Sunday, Feb. 12 for their home opener against Seattle University with matches at 10 a.m.
The men's team has a double header for their home opener on Friday, Feb. 10. They will begin their first match will be the first Big Sky competition this year at 10 a.m. against Sacramento State and then end the day competing against Whitworth with matches at 3 p.m.
All home matches will be at the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse and is open to the public. Admission is free.
For the men . . .
The last time out, the men's team played against Gonzaga on Jan. 28. The Eagles had a disappointing 7-0 loss to the Bulldogs.
"We are getting into the meat of the schedule and conference play is coming in early," head coach Steve Clark said. "We are focusing on perfect effort every day and only from that can we get things really accomplished."
But with opening up Big Sky competition this Friday, it is a different atmosphere. The last time Eastern played against Sacramento State was last year on March 23, with the Hornets winning 7-0. That loss for the Eagles was without senior Robert Dula due to an injury. Dula is currently No. 19 ranked in the Northwest region.
Sacramento State is currently 4-1 with wins against Fresno State, Portland State, Southern Utah and North Dakota. With these wins, the Hornets are currently in first place in the Big Sky standings as well as undefeated at 3-0. The team has also had two athletes named the Big Sky Player of the Week so far this season, junior Christopher Clayton and sophomore Mikus Losbergs.
For Whitworth, this will be the Pirate's first match of their season. Last year, the Eagles swept Whitworth 7-0, which was also their home opener. In the Division III ITA West Regional Rankings, Whitworth is currently ranked No. 13 out of the 20 teams.
"The guys have been pounding the strength and speed workouts and their time on court so everyone is getting stronger and better," Clark said. "The journey is constant and the process is key. So we look forward to testing where we are in upcoming matches."
For the women . . .
Due to snow, the match against Lewis-Clark State that the women were supposed to play on Feb. 3 got postponed to March 3. With this break for the Eagles, it gave them rest to be ready for their two matches this weekend. On Friday, Eastern will not have to travel too far to play Gonzaga. They will then have their home opener against Seattle University two days later on Feb. 12 in the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse.
"With the cancelation of last weekend's match, we are definitely looking forward to getting back out on court to compete," head coach Dustin Hinson said.
The last time the Eagles played a match was on Jan. 28 against Colorado, where they lost 6-1. Freshman Valentina Sottile got the lone win in the match, which was also her first collegiate win of her career.
Last year against Gonzaga, the Eagles lost 7-0 with most of the matches being reasonably close. This will be the Bulldogs second dual match of the regular season, previously defeating Wyoming on Jan. 29, 5-2. The Eagles have seen a little bit of competition against Gonzaga already this year with participating in the Bulldog Invite on Nov. 4-6. Sophomore Sophia Whittle from Gonzaga is currently ranked No. 8 in the Northwest.
Against Seattle last year, the Eagles won 4-3 in Seattle. So far, the Redhawks are 2-4 overall in dual matches, with one of those wins coming against Big Sky's Weber State. Their losses come from Washington State, Montana State, Washington and Boise State.
"It's always nice to be able to play other tough Division I teams in the state," Hinson said. "Both programs present tough challenges. We look forward to our home opener against Seattle on Sunday."
