Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brandon Burtner Sophomore Philip Janz prepares to serve a ball during his match against Southern Illinois. Colonels went on to win 7-0 against the Salukis.

While most of the Eastern community was digging out from the snow or dodging the All "A" Classic traffic on Saturday, the men's tennis team was busy sweeping a double-header.

Eastern (2-1) beat Southern Illinois 7-0 and Union College 5-1.

The Colonels won all six of the singles matches against Southern Illinois, as well as all three doubles matches.

"Doubles set the tone for the personality of a match," head coach Rob Oertel said. "Winning that point was a huge tone-setter for the match. Win that doubles point and it takes a little of the pressure off. This team plays their best when they're relaxed, and we were relaxed."

After winning the doubles point, Eastern swept the top three singles matches in straight sets to clinch the win.

"We did dominate in the 1, 2, 3 spots," Oertel said. "That was very encouraging for the rest of the season."

After beating SIU, Eastern faced the potential for a letdown against Union College, an NAIA level school.

"They were a late addition to our schedule," Oertel said. "They are an NAIA school, but they are one of the best programs in NAIA, so I knew they could be dangerous."

The Colonels won five of the six singles matches, winning four of them in straight sets.

Junior Alex Das Izquierdo, who normally plays in the one position for Eastern, sat out the Union match, which shows one of the qualities Oertel believes the team possesses.

"I rested Alex and that shows the depth of this team," Oertel said. "When we can win sitting our top guy, we're deep."

For both matches, Colonel sophomores Niklas Schroeder, Carlos Valdenebro, Parul Verma and Philip Janz each won their singles matches.

The Colonels will play in Lexington against the University of Virginia and the University of Kentucky on Saturday. Virginia is ranked 2nd in the latest ITA men's rankings and Kentucky is ranked 14th.

But those lofty rankings don't intimidate Eastern or their coach.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Oertel said. "The team loves a challenge. They want to be pushed. They'll play their heart out no matter what. They're not intimidated."

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