Tennis Opens Spring Slate at Northwestern

Spring Dual #1 - at NORTHWESTERN
Date	Saturday, Jan. 20 - 5 p.m. ET
Venue	Combe Tennis Center (Evanston, Ill.)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Preview Video with Coach Kucera
Live	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team is set to lift the lid on its 2024 spring schedule as the Eagles will travel to Evanston, Ill., to face the Wildcats of Northwestern University Saturday, Jan. 20. The dual, which will be held at the Combe Tennis Center on the NU campus, is slated for a 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET) start.

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with the scoring via live stats. The link can be found on the tennis schedule page on EMUEagles.com or in the information box above.

FIRST SERVES
» Eastern opens its 47th varsity campaign this week with a trip to Northwestern, who the Eagles have faced in their first dual of the season six times previously.
» The Eagles are 23-23 all-time in their season-opener and 11-21 when the opener comes on the road. Additionally, the Eagles are 15-31 in their road opener as well.
» The MAC announced its preseason coaches poll Jan. 17 with the Eagles earning 28 points and tying Ball State for fourth. Toledo, Miami, and Buffalo were selected as the top three teams.
» The Eastern roster features 10 players hailing from five different continents. Eight players return from the 2022-23 season with freshman Ksyusha Saenko and junior transfer Lily Tria joining the team.
» Ryan Kucera was named the head coach of the Eagles Aug. 9, 2023, and enters his first spring dual season at the helm of the program.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The MAC announced its 2024 coaches preseason poll Jan. 17 with the Eagles earning 28 points in the voting, tying Ball State for fourth place. Toledo (47), Miami (38), and Buffalo (35) comprised the top three in the poll with Western Michigan (27), Northern Illinois (14), and Bowling Green (7) ranking sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. Toledo (6) and Miami (2) earned the first-place votes with the Rockets (6), Redhawks (1), and Cardinals (1) all earning votes for who will win the 2024 MAC Tournament that will take place in Toledo, Ohio, April 26-27.

LIFTING LIDS • AWAY FROM HOME
Since first taking the courts as a varsity program, Sept. 22, 1976, the Eagles hold a 23-23 all-time record in their first dual of the season and is 11-21 when the season-opener is played away from Ypsilanti. With a record of 15-31 in their road opener, the Eagles will look to halt a two-match skid in road and overall openers after dropping back-to-back 4-3 scores at Cleveland State (Jan. 29, 2023) and against Murray State at Marshall (Jan. 28, 2022). EMU, who won, 9-0, at Oakland in its 1976 debut, has faced Northwestern six times in the season-opener, most recently in a 7-0 loss at then-No. 9 NU, Jan. 17, 2004.

SCOUTING: NORTHWESTERN
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 1-0 record after scoring a 4-3 win at Florida Atlantic Monday, Jan. 15. Claire Pollard's Wildcats claimed the win by securing victories at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles after dropping the doubles point and falling at both No. 1 and No. 2 singles. NU is coming off a 2023 campaign in which it posted a 12-13 overall record and a 7-4 mark in the Big Ten. The Wildcats competed in the Big Ten Tournament, falling to No. 21 Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.

IN THE RANKINGS: NORTHWESTERN
A pair of Wildcats hold national rankings ahead of this weekend's action according to the Nov. 15 release of the ITA National Rankings. In singles, Christina Hand is ranked No. 105 at singles and joins partner Justine Leong as the No. 39-ranked doubles tandem in the nation.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. WILDCATS
Eastern and Northwestern have met seven times previously with the Wildcats claiming victory in all seven, including the four played in Evanston, Ill. The last time the two sides met came Jan. 17, 2004, with the host and ninth-ranked Wildcats taking a 7-0 victory. The closest the Eagles have come to downing the Wildcats came Oct. 14, 1989, a 6-3 win for NU.

LOOKING BACK: 2023 FALL
Eastern participated in four events in the fall to get its season underway. Through those competitions, Linda Eloundou led the charge as she posted a 10-2 record in singles with freshman Ksyusha Saenko just behind her at 9-3. Andrea Quiroz added a 6-5 mark for the Eagles in singles play as well. In doubles, Sabina Brichackova (6-3) and Saenko (6-6) each posted six wins to lead the team while Quiroz added five. All told, of the nine players to see action, seven recorded at least three wins in doubles.

WELCOME ABOARD
Eastern Michigan is guided by Ryan Kucera, who took the reigns as the program's head coach Aug. 9. The 11th head coach in EMU history, Kucera came to Ypsilanti after one season leading Milwaukee, in which the Panthers advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 Horizon League Tournament. Prior to that, he spent two seasons at Minnesota State-Mankato where his second season saw the team reach the second round of the conference tournament. Kucera is a graduate of Grand View (Iowa) where he was a student-athlete from 2017-20 after one season at Luther College.

SHVED: RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYER
Daniella Shved was named a First Team All-Mid-American Conference selection, the league office announced April 28, 2022. Shved was one of just six student-athletes to be named on the first team and was the only underclassman to be represented on the list. Shved, who joined the Eagles prior to the 2023 spring campaign, is the 14th All-MAC first team selection in program history and is the first for the Eagles since Ani Gogvadze (2014-18) in 2018. Additionally, Shved became the first "true" freshman to earn first team accolades in program history. One of the most dominant players in the league in 2022, Shved finished her spring with a team-best 12-2 mark in singles play. Her total wins (12) and win percentage (86%) were both the best among all Eagles in 2023.

ON THE HORIZON
The Eagles will be busy at home next week as they are set to host three duals against two opponents. The weekend opens Saturday, Jan. 27, with a 1 p.m. visit from Hillsdale College inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. The next day, Sunday, Jan. 28, the Eagles will welcome the Bulldogs of Ferris State University to the Chippewa Club for a doubleheader. The two teams are schedule to play at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Admission is free.

FOLLOW US
For all things EMU Tennis, be sure to check out the team's social media accounts, including EMUEaglesTennis on X (formerly Twitter) and EMU_Tennis on Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Sabina Brichackova

Linda Eloundou

Andrea Quiroz

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Lily Tria

Eastern Michigan Athletics