EDWARDSVILLE – The homestand for SIUE men's tennis continues Sunday with an 11 a.m. match against Oral Roberts at the Edwardsville YMCA Meyer Center.
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"Oral Roberts is one of the teams in our region that we see every fall at the ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Regionals," said SIUE Head Coach Jason Coomer. "When we looked to try and enhance our schedule this year, Oral Roberts was certainly a team we wanted an opportunity to play against."
The Golden Eagles come into the weekend with a 4-2 record, including a four-match winning streak. Oral Roberts will have a difficult turnaround for Sunday's match after playing Saint Louis Saturday evening.
Coomer said he expects Oral Roberts to be a strong competitor.
"They are very strong throughout their lineup and have quite a bit of depth similar to us," he said.
The Cougars enter the match with a 3-1 record after blanking Western Illinois 7-0 last Sunday. This is the second of four straight home matches for the Cougars. SIUE also meets Southern Indiana (Feb. 27) and Northern Illinois (Mar. 1) before heading out to California for its spring break trip.
SIUE's Jacob Perkins currently is on a five-match winning streak and is 11-3 overall. He moved up to No. 2 in the singles lineup against Western Illinois. Patrick Gaffigan also is on a four-match winning streak, including his most recent win at No. 3 singles.
Coomer said he has not set his lineup for the match but expects anyone who is called on for a spot in the lineup to be ready to play from the opening serve.
"We definitely will need to play with a high level of intensity from the first point all the way through the end of the day," said Coomer.
