Eastern men’s tennis looks to snap their six-game losing streak this Sunday in Normal, Ill against the Redbirds from Illinois State.

Close singles and doubles matches that end in losses have been the story of the 0-6 Panther so far this season.

The Panthers have a combined record of 2-16 in doubles matches, with both wins taken by No. 1 partners freshman Preston Touliatos and junior Robert Skolik.

While their singles matches have been better of late, particularly against Indianapolis, Eastern is only 6-30 in singles matches overall to start the season,

While the overall scores look bad with blowout losses to Nebraska, Valparaiso and Michigan State, Eastern has competed well against some tough opponents.

After the Panthers latest match-up against Michigan State coach Eric Stark took solace knowing that his team could play with the best in the nation.

“We should take a huge confidence boost in knowing we can play with the best. I think this team has the belief now we can play with anyone,” he said.

The Panthers will look to use any kind of confidence against the Redbirds this weekend. Stark said a “total team effort” will be needed to beat Illinois State.

The Redbirds come in 3-3 on the season with victories over Oral Roberts, Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne and Chicago State and is currently riding a two-game win streak.

Illinois State is coming off an 8-13 record with a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament appearance in the 2013-2014 campaign.

The last time the Panthers squared off against Illinois State, they lost 5-2 back in 2010.

One player that has stood out for the winless Panthers is Touliatos. Against a ranked Michigan State squad, Touliatos and partner Skolik, defeated the Spartans No. 1 doubles squad in a tiebreaker match.

“We have played some very tough, very good teams and we have competed very hard with them. We will just keep practicing hard like we have all year and results will come,” Touliatos said.

Stark has repeatedly said the conference season is what matters most going forward but hopes to get on a good roll with only five non-conference games left.

“Our conference is very strong and these past few weeks should give us the confidence we need to feel like we belong at the top,” Stark said.

The Panthers look to get on the winning side of things at 1 p.m. at Evergreen Racquet Club.

Cody Delmendo can be reached at [email protected].