
With women’s tennis at Eastern having a third of its season behind it, let’s look at what has happened so far and what’s to come.
The women’s team has a record of 2-4 so far this season, winning a total of nine points and losing 26. Junior Aleyla Wooten said she thinks the season is going well so far for the Panthers.
“We’ve had two big wins early on that we really needed, and they showed us how capable we are as a team,” Wooten said.
Eastern is 1-1 on a neutral court and are 1-3 on an away court.
The Panthers have yet to play a game at home.
They are currently ranked second in the Ohio Valley Conference. The team was picked to finish sixth of eight overall in the preseason poll.
The losses the Panthers faced have been shutouts with the exception coming from their match against North Dakota. Eastern lost to North Dakota 6-1, and freshman Ornella Lomenzo recorded the lone win, defeating Jule Schulte (6-3, 6-2).
Even though the Panthers have four losses, Wooten said the communication within the team has helped them.
“In the matches we’ve lost, everyone has been able to communicate what changes need to happen in order to win,” Wooten said.
Eastern’s two wins were against IU Indy and Northern Iowa, and the Panthers won both matches with a 4-3 score.
Senior Luisa Renovales Salazar thinks the team is doing better than last year as they have beat opponents that they lost to last year.
“I think we are doing very well,” Renovales Salazar said. “We already have a better start than last year. We have beat teams that we lost before like IUPUI, [and] I think the team has a lot of potential this year and we are doing great.”
In its win against IU Indy, the team’s four points came from Wooten winning at No.1, Lomenzo at No. 2, sophomore Charleigh Fay at No.3 and Renovales Salazar at No. 5 in their singles matches.
Against Northern Iowa, the team’s four points came from doubles teams Wooten and sophomore Michelle Kostadinova (7-5) at No. 1 and Lomenzo and Renovales Salazar (6-4) at No.2. In the singles matches, Fay won at No. 2, Renovales Salazar at No. 3 and junior Emma Pilipovic-Kljajic at No. 4.
Wooten and Kostadinova were named the OVC Doubles Team of the Week for their performance against Northern Iowa.
“We’ve had great success in doubles, and singles is coming together in a strong way,” Wooten said. “The best part is we know exactly where we need to improve.”
The women’s team has 18 games left on their schedule with its next game against Saint Louis at Terra Haute, Indiana, on Wednesday.
Wooten says the best part of the season thus far is the team knows where they need to improve.
“As a team, we’re more confident and united than we’ve been in a long time, and that alone is a huge boost especially with conference play coming up next month,” Wooten said.
Although freshman Mila Larrieu is currently injured, she sees the energy and the overall competitiveness the team brings in their matches.
“The energy is also super high during the matches and also during practice,” Larrieu said. “I really have the feeling that we can do something this year, that we have the potential to perform.”
The women’s team is looking to obtain its third win of the season on Wednesday and continue the week with matches against Bowling Green and Ball State on Friday.
The first home match for the Panthers will be March 9 against Minnesota State at the Darling Courts, and their first conference opponent is Tennessee State on March 15 in Nashville.
The OVC Tournament is set to start on April 17 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Emerson Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or at etreynolds@eiu.edu.