RICHMOND, Ky. – Riding a two-match winning streak, the Eastern Kentucky University men's tennis team returns home this weekend to host James Madison and Xavier at the Greg Adams Tennis Center.
 
EKU (4-5) will open the homestand against James Madison on Friday, Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. ET before closing the weekend against Xavier on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available online for both matches.
 
The Colonels are coming off a pair of victories last Sunday, defeating North Dakota, 4-2, and Bellarmine, 4-3, at a round-robin tournament in Louisville.
 
Freshmen Joao Barreto and Ilie Cazac led EKU during the weekend sweep, each posting 2-0 singles records from the middle courts.
 
Barreto, a native of Aljezur, Portugal, earned a straight-sets victory over North Dakota's Justin Ilic, 6-3, 6-3, before battling past Bellarmine's Ryan Parkins in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
 
Cazac, from Chisinau, Moldova, also recorded two wins, defeating North Dakota's Walker Valentine, 6-1, 6-4, and topping Bellarmine's Alex English, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
 
With the wins, both freshmen joined senior Fernando Bulnes with a team-leading three singles victories this season from EKU's middle courts.
 
Bulnes and fellow senior Nuno Pinheiro have each earned Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week recognition this season. Pinheiro has competed from the top flight, facing multiple nationally ranked opponents.
 
Scouting James Madison
James Madison enters the weekend with an 0-1 record after suffering a 4-0 loss to No. 17 Duke in its season opener on Jan. 18. All three completed singles matches in the loss were decided in straight sets.
 
Scouting Xavier
Xavier comes to Richmond with a 1-5 overall record and has split its last two dual matches, defeating Northern Illinois, 4-3, on Jan. 31 before falling to Northwestern, 4-0, to open February. Junior Nick Herdoiza leads the Musketeers with a 1-4 record from court one, having faced multiple top-25 opponents this season.