Tennis Faces Cleveland State Sunday at Home

Spring Dual #5 - vs CLEVELAND STATE
Date	Sunday, Feb. 4 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Chippewa Club (Ypsilanti, Mich.)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	n/a
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

Y
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- After a busy weekend that saw the team sweep three home duals, the Eastern Michigan University tennis team returns to action for one dual this weekend as the Eagles are set to welcome the Vikings of Cleveland State University to the Chippewa Club Sunday, Feb. 4. First serve for the dual is scheduled for 1 p.m. between the Eagles (3-1) and Vikings (3-0).

FIRST SERVES
» Eastern enters the weekend with a 3-1 record after sweeping three home duals last weekend.
» The Eagles downed Hillsdale, 6-1, Jan. 27, before sweeping a doubleheader against visiting Ferris State, 6-1 and 5-0, Jan. 28.
» With the 6-1 win over the Chargers, Jan. 27, Head Coach Ryan Kucera collected his first victory leading the EMU program after taking the reins Aug. 9, 2023.
» Three Eagles went 3-0 in singles play over the weekend, including Linda Eloundou, Andrea Quiroz, and Ksyusha Saenko. Additionally, Quiroz was 3-0 in doubles play with all three ending in 6-0 scores.
» With the win over the Chargers, the Eagles improved to 29-17 all-time in their first home dual of the year and have now won three in a row.
» Eastern is now 97-109 all-time against teams from the state of Michigan following the three wins. The Eagles will look to add to the total Feb. 10 at home against Oakland.
» A win Sunday over Cleveland State would give the Eagles four victories in a row for the first time since 2022 and four consecutive home wins for the first time since the 2018 campaign.

SCOUTING: CLEVELAND STATE
Heading into the weekend, the Vikings stand 3-0 on the season and will play host to Toledo Friday afternoon before traveling to Ypsilanti to face the Eagles Sunday. CSU has played all three of its duals on the road, picking up wins of 6-1 at Valparaiso (Jan. 20), 6-1 at Ball State (Jan. 27), and 4-3 at Dayton (Jan. 28). Individually, Oihane Vicario leads the way for the Vikings at the No. 1 singles position as she holds an 8-3 overall record and is 3-0 in duals after winning all three in three-set battles.

FAMILIAR FACE
The Vikings are guided by Head Coach Frank Polito, who is very familiar with Ypsilanti. A native of Lorain, Ohio, Polito was a four-year letter winner for the EMU men's tennis team before earning his degree in telecommunications from Eastern in 1990. He also served as the head coach of the EMU men's program for five years following his graduation, leading the team from 1990-95.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. VIKINGS
Eastern and Cleveland State will meet on the courts for the seventh time in history of the series and fourth season in a row with the Eagles holding a slim 3-2 record (one dual result is unknown). The Vikings have won the last two meetings, 4-3, including the latest entry in the series, Jan. 29, 2023, in Cleveland. The Eagles are 1-1 at home (with one unknown result), but lost, 4-3, in the last meeting in Ypsilanti, Feb. 10, 2022.

LOOKING BACK: HOME SWEEP HOME
The Eagles played host to a trio of duals last weekend, scoring a 6-1 win over Hillsdale, Jan. 27, before sweeping a doubleheader against Ferris State, Jan. 28, with scores of 6-1 and 5-0. Eastern captured the doubles point in all three duals to jump start the victories as each dual was clinched for the Eagles before their foes earned their lone point.

STARTING STRONG
Over the weekend, the Eagles captured the doubles point in all three duals, starting the team off on the right foot with a 1-0 lead before singles play began. Last year, Eastern won the doubles just four times all year.

DYNAMITE DOUBLES
A big part of taking the doubles point in all three duals was the playing of Andrea Quiroz and her partners. Quiroz paired with Prerna Vichare against Hillsdale, Linda Eloundou in the first match with Ferris State, and Ksyusha Saenko in the second FSU match with all three ending in 6-0 wins for EMU.

SUPERIOR SINGLES
A trio of Eagles went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend in singles play with all three winning each match in straight sets. Andrea Quiroz won twice at No. 2 and once at No. 4 while Linda Eloundou was twice victorious at No. 4 and once at No. 5. Freshman Ksyusha Saenko was the third, three-time winner with all three of her victories coming at No. 3 while surrendering just eight games over six sets.

FIGHTING FOR FOUR
Currently on a three-match winning streak, Eastern is looking to capture its fourth consecutive victory for the first time since 2022 when the Eagles won twice on the road March 27, 2022 (4-3 at Bowling Green and 4-0 at Lourdes) and twice at home on April 1, 2022 (4-3 vs. Ball State and 4-3 vs. Wayne State). A win Sunday also would mark four consecutive home wins, a feat the team last achieved in 2018, including wins of 6-1 over Grand Valley State (March 3), 6-1 over Oakland (March 16), 5-2 over Detroit Mercy (March 17), and 4-3 over Akron (March 23).

MITTEN MEETINGS
The Eagles will play seven matches against fellow Michigan schools during the 2024 season and are off to a 3-0 start after downing Hillsdale (Jan. 27), 6-1, and Ferris State (Jan., 28), 6-1 and 5-0. Eastern's remaining schedule will see duals against Oakland (Feb. 10) and Western Michigan (April 19) at home, and on the road with Michigan State (Feb. 11) and WMU (April 12). Overall, the Eagles hold a record of 97-109 all-time against Michigan schools following the 3-0 weekend.

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-MAC PLAYER
Daniella Shved was named First Team All-Mid-American Conference, 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.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The MAC announced its 2024 coaches preseason poll Jan. 17 with the Eagles earning 28 points in the voting, tying with 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.

ON THE HORIZON
The Eagles will face a pair of Michigan schools next weekend with one dual at home and one away. First, Eastern will welcome Oakland University to the Chippewa Club for a 1 p.m. first serve Saturday, Feb. 10. The weekend comes to a close one day later in East Lansing, Mich., where the Eagles and Michigan State University Spartans will meet for a 4 p.m. first serve.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Linda Eloundou

Andrea Quiroz

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Prerna Vichare

Eastern Michigan Athletics