Tennis Set to Host Northern Illinois Friday

Spring Dual #16 - vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Date	Friday, March 29 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Chippewa Club (Ypsilanti)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	n/a
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

Y
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team will look to remain undefeated in home competitions this week when the Eagles play host to the Huskies of Northern Illinois University Friday, March 29. The Eagles (7-8, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) and Huskies (12-7, 1-2 MAC) will meet at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti with the first serve slated for 1 p.m.

FIRST SERVES
» Eastern holds a 7-8 overall record and a 1-2 mark in MAC play after splitting a home-and-home series with Ball State last week. The Eagles won, 6-1, at home, March 22, before falling on the road in Muncie, Ind., 4-3, March 24.
» With the 6-1 win over Hillsdale, Jan. 27, Ryan Kucera collected his first victory leading EMU after taking over 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 7-8 with EMU and 34-46 in his career.
» It has been a tale of two locations this year for the Eagles as they are 7-0 at home and 0-8 on the road.
» The 4-3 loss to Ball State marked the third time in 2024 the Eagles have fallen by one point. Overall, Eastern is now 106-95 all-time in one-point matches and 40-44 against MAC foes.
» Three Eagles were undefeated in singles play against Ball State with Andrea Quiroz (No. 3), Ksyusha Saenko (No. 4), and Linda Eloundou (No. 5) each winning twice against the Cardinals.
» With one win each in singles and doubles, March 22, Sabina Brichackova has tallied 81 combined wins in her career. She has won 42 times in singles play and 39 in doubles.

LOOKING BACK: BALL STATE DOUBLE
The Eagles split two matches with Ball State last week, winning at home, March 22, by a 6-1 score before falling on the road two days later, March 24, 4-3. In the opening match, the Eagles secured the doubles point for the second conference match in a row before reeling off five consecutive singles wins to take the match, 6-1, and snap a three-match losing streak to the Cardinals. On the road two days later, the Eagles split the six singles matches, but the doubles point went to Ball State, as did the team win, 4-3.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
The 4-3 loss at Ball State, March 24, marked the third time in 2024 the Eagles have lost a one-point match on the road, having previously lost at Valparaiso, Feb. 18, and at Miami, March 17. With those losses, the Eagles are now 106-95 all-time in one-point duals with a record of 60-50 on the road. When playing in conference matches, the team is 40-44 all-time with a 23-21 record away from home.

SWEEPING THROUGH
Both Andrea Quiroz and Ksyusha Saenko swept their opponents over the weekend as they posted straight-set wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively. Quiroz posted a 6-3, 6-4 win Friday to clinch the team victory before winning 6-3, 6-1 Sunday on the road. Saenko battled her way to a win Friday as she came back from down, 5-4, to win, 7-5, 6-2, and then added a 6-4, 6-3 decision Sunday.

WORKING HARD FOR THE WINS
Linda Eloundou was the third Eagle to win both of her singles matches against Ball State, March 22 and 24, as she captured both wins at No. 5 in three sets. In both instances, Eloundou won the first set before dropping the second and then battling back to claim the third set and the overall win. In Friday's opener, she won, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, before posting a nearly identical score Sunday at Ball State, winning the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

LEADING THE WAY
Both Linda Eloundou and Ksyusha Saenko lead the team with 19-6 records in singles play following their wins against Ball State last week. Should both win their final seven regular-season matches, they would each have 26 wins on the year, which would tie for the 17th-most in a single season in program history. The last Eagle to add her name to the all-time top 20 ledger was Klara Supejova in 2013 as she finished the year with 26 wins to become the fourth player to tie for 17th.

TALE OF TWO LOCATIONS
Following their 4-3 loss at Ball State, March 24, the Eagles are 7-8 this year with a 7-0 record at home and a 0-8 mark on the road. The last time Eastern won on the road was a 5-2 win at Northern Illinois, April 14, 2023. The Eagles will have a chance to halt their streak next week against the Huskies, who they will first play in Ypsilanti this week.

SCOUTING: NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies enter the weekend with a 12-7 record and are 1-2 in MAC play. Northern Illinois won a close, 4-3, decision over visiting Western Michigan, March 24, to earn its first league win of the year after dropping its first two matches, including a 4-3 decision at Ball State (March 17) and a 5-2 score to visiting Miami (March 22). The Huskies are accustomed to close matches in 2024 as they hold a 3-1 record in matches ending in a 4-3 score.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. HUSKIES
Eastern Michigan holds a 33-11 record against Northern Illinois and won the last meeting, 5-2, in DeKalb, Ill., April 14, 2023, a victory that snapped a five-match losing streak to the Huskies. The Eagles have lost four in a row to the Huskies when playing in Ypsilanti with the last two finishing 4-3 in favor of the visitors. The last time Eastern downed NIU in Ypsilanti was April 5, 2015, with a 5-2 win. Began in 1982, Eastern won the first eight matches and added a winning streak of 14 consecutive matches from 1998-09 to build the large advantage.

LONG HISTORY
The series with Northern Illinois is one of the most played in Eastern history as the two sides will be meeting for the 45th time this week. The series ranks as the seventh-most played and the sixth-most played league competition as EMU's 47-match history with Michigan State is just ahead of NIU. The series with Western Michigan is the longest at 58 meetings.

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 +15 in wins, and Andrea Quiroz, who is +13. Eloundou is 19-6 this year after posting a 4-9 mark last year while Quiroz sits 16-10 after posting a 3-11 record. Additionally, Vidisha Reddy has improved by three (1-7 to 4-5) while Regina Mendez has improved by two (3-7 to 5-7).

AMONG THE LEADERS
Freshman Ksyusha Saenko has provided a large number of wins for the Eagles in her first collegiate season as her 19 singles wins ties for the most on the team (19, Linda Eloundou) while her 30 combined wins leads all Eagles. Saenko has added 11 wins in doubles play, which is second behind Andrea Quiroz' 12 wins.

STARTING STRONG
Last year, the Eagles played 15 duals and captured the doubles point four times. Through 15 duals this year, the Eagles have captured the doubles point seven times, including six times at home and once on the road. Additionally, the Eagles have won the doubles point in two of their three MAC matches.

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.

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
Two MAC matches await the Eagles next week with one each at home and on the road. First, Eastern will venture to DeKalb, Ill., to face the Huskies of Northern Illinois University in a 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) match Friday, April 5. Then, the week ends Sunday, April 7, with the University at Buffalo Bulls coming to town for a 1 p.m. match at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti.

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

Sabina Brichackova

Linda Eloundou

Regina Mendez Carreño

Andrea Quiroz

Vidisha Reddy

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Prerna Vichare

Wendy Zhang

Eastern Michigan Athletics