Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Sports

Eastern senior Jordan Nestrud returns a serve from a Morehead State player on March 22 at Darling Courts. Eastern plays Indiana State today. (Karolina Strack / The Daily Eastern News)

The Eastern men's tennis team is not taking Indiana State lightly.

The Panthers (9-8) are playing an Indiana State team that picked its first win of the season on Friday against Dayton. The two teams square off at 3 p.m. today at Darling Courts. The Sycamores (1-12) have lost to Ohio Valley Conference opponents, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky.

"I believe they have a very talented roster," said Eastern head coach John Blackburn. "They are playing a very difficult schedule. That record is not indicative of how good of a team they are, especially when you look at their offensive statistics in the Missouri Valley Conference."

Eastern lost to the Sycamores 6-1 last season. And four ISU players return from that match.

Blackburn said for the Panthers to be successful they will need to continue to win the doubles points as well as playing with confidence in the singles matches.

"Continually playing with confidence is a big key," Blackburn said. "Over the weekend, we did a good job of maintaining confidence and we were able to improve on executing our shots under pressure."

Two of the main reasons for the Panther's success in doubles play this season has been the play of senior duo Vuk Milicevic and Jordan Nestrud.

During the weekend, Milicevic and Nestrud went 2-0 in doubles competitions defeating Austin Peay and Tennessee Martin, which moved the duo's overall record to 12-1.

Blackburn said because both players are seniors it has helped them establish themselves as the No. 1 doubles team.

"They have been together for four years, which helps a lot," Blackburn said. "Vuk has really good returns, while Jordan is very instinctive at the net, which has allowed them to finish matches."

Nestrud said the familiarity with each other's style of game has allowed the duo to be successful.

"We really understand each other's game," Nestrud said. "We know what each other is going to do in certain spots. When we got put in the No.1 spot, we began to learn how to be more aggressive around the net."

Nestrud said the doubles points have been especially important in obtaining wins against opponents in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"Everyone is starting to become better at closing in on the net," Nestrud said. "If we can come out and get the double's points it builds momentum toward the singles points."


Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or at jnschneider@eiu.edu.

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