Tennis Heads to Palmetto State for Two Duals

Spring Dual #10 - at SOUTH CAROLINA STATE
Date	Tuesday, Feb. 26 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Hardeep Judge Tennis Center (Orangeburg, SC)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	n/a
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

Spring Dual #11 - at CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Date	Thursday, Feb. 29 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Banks Tennis Center (Charleston, SC)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Scoring
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team is set to play two matches this week in its annual Spring Break trip as the Eagles will travel to South Carolina to face South Carolina State University, Feb. 27, and Charleston Southern University, Feb. 29. The Eagles (5-4) and Bulldogs (3-1) will meet at the Hardeep Judge Tennis Center in Orangeburg, S.C., for a 1 p.m. first serve before the Eagles and Buccaneers (4-3) meet two days later at the Gary Clark Banks Sr. Tennis Center in Charleston, S.C., for a 1 p.m. first serve.

FIRST SERVES
» Eastern enters the weekend with a 5-4 record after dropping two tightly contested matches on the road, including a 4-1 loss at Butler, Feb. 16, and a 4-3 loss at Valparaiso, Feb. 18.
» With the 6-1 win over Hillsdale, Jan. 27, Ryan Kucera collected his first victory leading EMU after taking the reins Aug. 9, 2023. The 6-1 win over Cleveland State, Feb. 4, marked the first win over an NCAA Division I foe at EMU for Kucera, who is 5-2 with EMU and 32-40 in his career.
» The Eagles are facing two teams for the first time in program history with their matches at South Carolina State and Charleston Southern. Both opponents won their conferences in 2023 and reached the NCAA Tournament.
» The two matches will mark the first times the Eagles have competed inside the Palmetto State in program history.
» The dual at CSU will be played Thursday, Feb. 29, which is also Leap Day. The Eagles hold a 3-3 record all time on Leap Day and won the last time it played on February's extra day, 5-2, at St. Francis (Pa.).

LEAPING IN
Thursday's match at Charleston Southern will mark the seventh time in program history the Eagles have played on Leap Day, Feb. 29, and hold a 3-3 record. The first instance came in 1984 with a 7-2 win at Florida Southern before losses in 1992 at Baylor (5-1) and 1996 at Broward College (7-2). The Eagles got back in the win column in 2002 with a 4-3 win at South Florida before dropping a 7-0 decision at Hawaii in 2012. The most recent instance came in 2020 with a 5-2 victory at St. Francis (Pa.).

LOOKING BACK: HOOSIER STATE WEEKEND
Eastern dropped both of its matches on the road last time out as the Eagles fell at Butler (Feb. 16), 4-1, and at Valparaiso (Feb. 18), 4-3. Linda Eloundou and Ksyusha Saenko each collected wins in singles play to continue to lead the team in victories with 15 and 14, respectively.

TAIL OF TWO LOCATIONS
The Eagles are 5-4 this year with a 5-0 record at home and a 0-4 mark on the road. A win at South Carolina State or Charleston Southern this week would be the first road victory of 2024 for Eastern and its first since a 5-2 win at Northern Illinois, April 14, 2023.

SCOUTING: SOUTH CAROLINA STATE
A participant in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs hold a 3-1 record in the 2024 season with their lone loss coming at Charleston Southern, the Eagles' next opponent. SCSU has scored wins over Francis Marion (7-0), Elon (4-2), and Tennessee State (7-0). Sophomore Sofiya Chursina leads the team at No. 1 singles with a 7-3 record while the team's No. 2, Hind Semlali, stands 4-4, but is on a four-match winning streak in dual competition this spring.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. BULLDOGS
Eastern and South Carolina State are set to meet for the first time in series history.

SCOUTING: CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
The Buccaneers, who competed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament as champions of the Big South Conference, are 4-3 this year and have lost their three in a row, including a 4-0 decision at No. 18 South Carolina, Feb. 25. Senior Jessica Braun leads the way for the Bucs and holds an 8-4 record, including a 3-2 mark at No. 1 singles.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. BUCCANEERS
Eastern and Charleston Southern are set to meet for the first time in the series' history.

STRONG DEBUT
When looking at the debut season of a head coach, Ryan Kucera's 5-2 mark through seven matches ranks as the third-best in EMU history behind a pair of 6-1 records. The two coaches with a better record are Lucy Parker, who started 6-1 in the program's inaugural season of 1976-77, and Tim Gray, who opened the 2002-03 season at 6-1. Should the Eagles go 2-0 this weekend, Kucera would move into a tie at 7-2 with Parker for the second spot behind Gray, who was 8-1.

DOUBLES TROUBLES
After seeing her first dual in doubles play end in an abandoned 4-4 score at Northwestern, Andrea Quiroz and her partners reeled off five wins in a row, all by perfect 6-0 scores. That streak came to an end at Michigan State, Feb. 11, where Quiroz and Linda Eloundou battled to the end before falling, 7-5.

STARTING STRONG
Last year, the Eagles played 15 duals and captured the doubles point four times. Through nine duals this year, the Eagles have captured the doubles point five times, with all five coming at home.

COUNTING HIGHER
A trio of Eagles have captured at least 10 singles wins this season with all three having reached 20+ combined wins when including doubles victories. Linda Eloundou leads the way with a 16-3 singles record. Freshman Ksyusha Saenko is 15-6 in singles while Andrea Quiroz is 12-8 in singles.

BIG IMPROVEMENTS
Four Eagles have already posted improved win totals in singles play over their results from the 2023 season, including Linda Eloundou, who is +12 in wins, and Andrea Quiroz, who is +9. Eloundou is 16-3 this year after posting a 4-9 mark last year while Quiroz sits 12-8 after posting a 3-11 record. Additionally, Regina Mendez has improved by two wins (3-7 to 5-5) while Vidisha Reddy has done the same (1-7 to 3-4).

MITTEN MEETINGS
The Eagles will play seven matches against fellow Michigan schools during the 2024 season and are off to a 4-1 start after downing Hillsdale (Jan. 27), 6-1; Ferris State (Jan. 28), 6-1 and 5-0; and Oakland, 6-1; before dropping a 4-0 decision on the road at Michigan State. Eastern's remaining schedule will see a pair of MAC duals against Western Michigan, including April 12 on the road and April 19 at home. Overall, the Eagles hold a record of 98-110 all-time against Michigan schools through the five matches played in 2024.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO...
Because of their comeback victory, Daniella Shved and Prerna Vichare were selected as the MAC Doubles Team of the Week, the league announced Feb. 6. It was the first award earned by the Eagles this season and the first since Shved and Wendy Zhang earned the doubles award Feb. 16, 2023.

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.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The MAC announced its 2024 coaches preseason poll Jan. 17 with the Eagles earning 28 points in the voting, tied 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
EMU is back in action March 9 when it returns home to welcome the University of Findlay. The two sides will meet at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti with the first serve scheduled for 1 p.m.

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

Linda Eloundou

Regina Mendez Carreño

Andrea Quiroz

Vidisha Reddy

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Prerna Vichare

Wendy Zhang

Eastern Michigan Athletics