The Butler men’s tennis team continued to struggle with a 5-2 loss at Eastern Kentucky last Saturday.

The Bulldogs (0-7) received one of their two victories from freshman Billy Weldon, who defeated senior Emilio Piriz 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.

“It is a definite confidence boost to get my second singles win of the year,” Weldon said. “I am just focused on contributing as much as I can to each match, so getting a win is always a positive.”

Freshman Sam O’Neill recorded Butler’s other win with a comeback performance at No. 6 singles.

After dropping the opening set 2-6 to sophomore Joao Maio, O’Neill took the second set 7-6 and won the tiebreaker 10-5.

“I was really happy with the way I finished the match,” O’Neill said. “I continued to play my patterns and hit my shots the way I had been in training, and when I got behind, I really increased my energy level to where it should have been from the start.”

Despite the pair of wins for the Bulldogs, Eastern Kentucky took the remainder of the singles matches and all three doubles matches.

“We have had a very tough schedule thus far, and I think that we just need to keep our intensity and work up for each match, and things will come together here soon,” Weldon said. “We are a young team and just have to keep fighting in every match we have.”

Butler will continue its season at Western Michigan at 3 p.m. Friday.

The Butler men’s tennis team continued its losing skid with a 7-0 home loss to No. 66 Harvard on Sunday.

“I just think we are playing a couple tough schools early this season,” freshman Ruben Geeraert said.

Freshman Austin Woldmoe had the team’s best singles showing against the Crimson (5-1), losing to senior Jonathan Pearlman 6-4, 6-3.

“Harvard is one of the best ranked teams to come here, so we were just trying to get experience with the new freshmen,” sophomore Brad DiCarlo said. “To improve we just need to work on our consistency, toughness and serves.”

The Bulldogs (0-5) also suffered two losses Saturday in West Lafayette, falling 7-0 to No. 67 Purdue (3-2) and 5-2 against Southern Illinois.

Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics

Against the Salukis (1-1), Butler received victories from freshman Pulok Bhattacharya at No. 5 singles (4-6, 6-4, 6-0) and freshman Sam O’Neill at No. 6 singles (6-1, 7-6 (7-5)).

The team will continue its season at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Butler women’s tennis team was busy over the weekend, defeating Dayton on the road Saturday after falling to Eastern Kentucky at home the day before.

The Bulldogs (1-3) picked up their first victory of the season with a 6-1 win over the Flyers (0-4).

Five of Butler’s six singles competitors won their respective matches in straight sets. Leading the way was sophomore Caroline Hedrick, who defeated Dayton sophomore Claire McNulty 6-1, 6-0 in No. 1 singles action.

The Bulldogs also received victories from sophomore Stephanie McLoughlin (No. 2), senior Cam Thompson (No. 4), sophomore Laura Shull (No. 5) and sophomore Angelina Qin (No. 6) in singles play.

Photo by Rachel Anderson

Butler was also victorious in No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.

The squad’s match on Friday against Eastern Kentucky saw a different result, as the Bulldogs dropped a 7-0 decision to the Colonels (3-0).

The only Bulldog not to lose in straight sets was Thompson, who lost 6-4, 5-7 (1-0).

“[Thompson] has that ability when she is determined,” coach Jason Suscha said. “It was a really fun match to watch.”

Qin and senior Ashley Breitenbach were the only Bulldogs to pick up a win on the day, taking their No. 3 doubles match 8-6. It was the first time the two were paired together this season.

Against both Eastern Kentucky and Dayton, junior Brittany Farmer was forced out of action due to illness.

“That cost us a bit with Eastern Kentucky,” Suscha said. “They are a quality team with nice athletes.”

Butler will be back in action Saturday when the team travels to the University of Indianapolis at 5 p.m.