After a break of a week and a half, the UW-Eau Claire men’s tennis team is ready to get back on the court.

Coach Tom Gillman said the break will give the team the juice it needs, rather than giving a bad effect.

“We’ve played enough tennis that it (the break) won’t affect us.”

Junior Ryan Gruhlke said the break will help the team out in the long run.

“It’s given us a good time to rest,” he said. “We’ve been getting burned out playing weekend to weekend.”

The team will compete against St. Mary’s from Winona, Minn. at home today. Gillman said it should be a preparatory match.

He said there are some things the team needs to tighten down on so it will have a good match. A successful match today and a good week of practice are needed to prepare the team to play against their conference opponents next week, Gillman said.

The team, which defeated NCAA Division II teams Winona State and Minnesota State-Mankato, does not have a lot it needs to change before the match, Gillman said.

“We’ve been playing really well,” he said.

Gruhlke said the key to the team’s success against St. Mary’s will be to keep the intensity up.

“We have to get used to playing outside,” Gruhlke said.

The last two victories improved the Blugolds’ season to 10-6. The men have won seven of their last nine matches.

The doubles teams of senior Steve Matuszewski and Gruhlke, and senior Bob Yunker and junior Andrew Kallio both had good showings at the April 6 match. Matuszewski and Gruhlke improved their season record to 10-3 with a pair of victories at No. 2 doubles.

Yunker and Kallio remain unbeaten at No. 3 doubles this season after the win over Mankato.