Eastern’s men’s tennis team lost all three matches this weekend, following a trend it has this season. The team’s first match was Friday against Wisconsin. The Badgers are ranked No. 31 in the country.

Wisconsin shutout Eastern 7-0.

Freshman Marko Stefan Janjusic was the Panther closest to winning a set, eventually losing 6-1, 6-4.

“Wisconsin is a nationally ranked, Big Ten program so we knew that match would be tough, coach Samuel Kercheval said.”

The Badgers handed Eastern its ninth loss of the season.

Eastern had a double header in Chicago Saturday, facing the Detroit Mercy and Chicago State University later in the day.

Detroit shutout the Panthers.

“We had a really slow start in the doubles which you can’t afford,” Kercheval said. “It was disappointing because we are better than what we showed.”

In the one spot of Eastern’s lineup, freshman Gage Kingsmith forced his opponent to a third set before losing 6-2, 7-6, 1-0.

Two other Panthers got close to winning a set before losing in straight sets: juniors Trent Reiman and Jared Woodson. Reiman got close in his second set (6-4), and Woodson nearly won his first set (7-6).

The Panthers performed better against Chicago State.

In the No. 3 position against Chicago State, Janjusic got the first point for the Panthers; he won in the three sets, 5-7, 7-6, 1-0.

Janjusic’s has the best singles record on Eastern’s team at 6-7.

Woodson got the second point for Eastern, also winning in three sets. He defeated his opponent 2-6, 7-5, 1-0. The final point Eastern got before losing 4-3 came from Ammer in his singles match: he won 6-3, 6-1.

Eastern remains positive despite the losses.

“The guys see the progress we are making and know it takes a lot of work and it takes time. We definitely have some frustrations but there is a lot of tennis to be played,” Kercheval said. “We will get back to working on what we have been and continue to move forward as a team to prepare for next week.”

Dillan Schorfheide can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]