Tennis Faces WMU, Toledo in Big MAC Matches

Spring Dual #19 - at WESTERN MICHIGAN
Date	Friday, April 12 - 12 p.m.
Venue	N
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

Spring Dual #20 - vs. TOLEDO
Date	Sunday, April 14 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Chippewa Club (Ypsilanti)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	n/a
Twitter	@EMUEaglesTennis \| @EMUAthletics

Y
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team has a pair of big Mid-American Conference matches scheduled this week as the Eagles are just outside of the top four in the MAC standings with two weeks to go. The Eagles (9-9, 3-3 MAC) will open the week on the road at Western Michigan University (13-6, 4-2 MAC) Friday, April 12, for a 12 p.m. match in Kalamazoo before returning home to take on the University of Toledo (13-4, 6-0 MAC) Sunday, April 14, in a 1 p.m. contest at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti.

FIRST SERVES
» Eastern holds a 9-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in MAC play after dropping a 5-2 decision at Northern Illinois, April 5, and downing Buffalo at home, April 7, 4-3.
» It has been a tale of two locations this year for the Eagles as they are 9-0 at home and 0-9 on the road.
» The nine home wins are the most in a single season in program history, surpassing the eight tallied in 2017-18. At 9-0, the team would become the fourth to go undefeated at home in a single season and the first since the 2003-04 team went 7-0.
» 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 9-9 with EMU and 36-47 in his career.
» With nine wins, Ryan Kucera is currently tied for the fifth-most wins in a debut season for an EMU tennis coach with Craig Capelli (2005-06) just ahead of Kucera in fourth with 10 wins.
» With their win over Buffalo, the Eagles are now 107-95 all-time in one-point matches and 41-44 when those matches are played against MAC foes.
» The match between EMU and WMU will be the 59th all-time, the most in any series for the Eagles.
» Last week, the Eagles announced the signing of Marta Komar for the 2024-25 season. Komar is currently ranked in the ITA/NCAA Division II top 10 in doubles and at No. 70 in singles for Wayne State.

NEW TO THE CREW
Marta Komar has signed to join the EMU program for the 2024-25 season, Head Coach Ryan Kucera announced April 4. A native of Inowroclaw, Poland, Komar currently plays for Wayne State where she ranked No. 7 in the ITA/NCAA Division II singles rankings while sitting at No. 8 in the doubles ranks. She is the third newcomer for next season, joining Iva Daneva (Kavadarci, North Macedonia) and Viktorie Hazmukova (Skvorec, Czechia), who signed with the program in early November 2023.

LOOKING BACK: SPLITTING MATCHES
Last weekend, the Eagles split a pair of MAC matches, including a 5-2 loss on the road at Northern Illinois (April 5) before claiming a 4-3 win at home over Buffalo (April 7). Daniella Shved had a big weekend as she went 2-0 at No. 1 singles, including a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win against Buffalo that clinched the home dual. Shved was joined by Andrea Quiroz, who battled back for a three-set win at No. 2 singles as well. In both matches, the EMU player dropped the first set, 6-3, before coming back to win the second and third sets for the win. The Eagles also captured the doubles point from the Bulls, making it 4-of-6 MAC duals in which EMU has won the doubles point.

MAC STANDINGS
To make the 2024 MAC Tournament (April 26-27 in Toledo), a team must finish in the top four of the final MAC standings. With four matches to play, the Eagles are just on the outside looking in as their 3-3 record ties with Miami for fourth place, but the RedHawks' 4-3 win in Oxford, Ohio, March 17, gives MU the tie breaker. Toledo (6-0) leads the way with Western Michigan and Ball State tied for second at 4-2. The final two weeks of the regular season will be pivotal for the Eagles as they face current top-see Toledo once, current second place WMU twice, and Bowling Green, who is 0-6, once.

TALE OF TWO LOCATIONS
Following a 5-2 loss at Northern Illinois, April 5, and a 4-3 home win over Buffalo, April 7, the Eagles are 9-9 this year with a 9-0 record at home and a 0-9 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 this week at Western Michigan in Kalamazoo Friday afternoon.

HOME SWEEP HOME
The Eagles are 9-0 at home this season, a mark that is setting program records. The nine wins are a single-season record, surpassing the eight home wins secured in the 2017-18 season and equal the combined home win total of the previous five seasons. The eighth EMU team to play nine or more home matches, this year's squad will finish with 11 home matches, surpassing the previous record of 10, which happened in both 1980-81 and 2017-18. Finally, three previous teams finished undefeated at home, including the 1978-79 (3-0), 2000-01 (5-0), and 2003-04 (7-0) squads.

DOUBLING UP
Last year, Eastern won the doubles point four times total. This year, the tides have turned as the Eagles have secured the point nine times, including four times in MAC matches. Eastern has secured the doubles point eight times at home, including in MAC wins over Ball State (March 22), Northern Illinois (March 29), and Buffalo (April 7) while also taking the point at Miami (March 17) in the MAC opener.

CLINCHING ALL AROUND
In the Eagles' nine wins, the clinching point for the team victory has been spread around through all six singles positions. So far, the team win has been clinched twice at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4, with single clinches coming from No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6. In the three home MAC wins, the clinching point has been secured at No. 3 (Ball State), No. 2 (Northern Illinois), and No. 1 (Buffalo).

CLIMBING HIGHER
The 11th head coach in program history, Ryan Kucera has accumulated nine wins so far this season, a total that ranks him fifth for a first-year coach in program history and one shy of tying Craig Capelli (2005-06) for fourth with 10 wins. The most wins in a debut season since Jayson Wiseman's 16 in 2017-18, Kucera also has three MAC wins, equaling the total of each of the past two seasons with four to play.

CLOSE CALLS
With their 4-3 win over Buffalo, April 7, the Eagles are 1-3 this year in one-point matches after falling by the same score to Valparaiso (Feb. 18), Miami (March 17), and Ball State (March 24), all on the road. Following the match with UB, Eastern is now 107-95 all-time in one-point matches and 32-35 at home. Additionally, the Eagles are 41-44 in one-point MAC meetings with an 18-21 home mark.

SCOUTING: WESTERN MICHIGAN
The Broncos enter the weekend with a 13-6 record and stand 4-2 in MAC play. Winners of three in a row, WMU is 7-0 at home this year and won its last meeting, 6-1, over visiting Northern Illinois, April 7. The two losses in league play have come on the road, including a 7-0 loss at Toledo, March 16, and a 4-3 setback at Northern Illinois, March 24.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. BRONCOS
Although Eastern trails in the all-time series with Western Michigan, 15-43, the Eagles have won two of the last three meetings, including a 4-3 victory on the road in Kalamazoo, March 31, 2023, for EMU's first win at WMU since March 23, 2002, also a 4-3 decision. EMU is 4-18 when playing in Kalamazoo with last year's win snapping a 10-match skid.

HELLO OLD FRIEND
The series with Western Michigan is the most played in program history as this week's meeting will be the 59th all-time. One of three series with 50+ meetings, the EMU-WMU series is trailed only by Bowling Green (53) and Miami (50).

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 (Feb. 10), 6-1; before dropping a 4-0 decision on the road at Michigan State (Feb. 11). Eastern's remaining schedule will see a pair of MAC duals against Western Michigan, including Friday, April 12, on the road and Friday, 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.

SCOUTING: TOLEDO
The Rockets head into the weekend with a 13-4 overall record and stand a perfect 6-0 in MAC play. Winners of seven consecutive matches, Toledo's last loss came on the road in a 5-2 decision at Charleston Southern, March 5. Since then, the Rockets have defeated Miami and Bowling Green twice each with single wins over both Western Michigan and Buffalo.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. ROCKETS
Eastern holds a 32-15 lead over Toledo in a series that saw the Eagles lose the first meeting, 9-0, before winning 26 in a row. Since then, UT is 14-6 and has won the last three meetings, including a 7-0 decision, March 18, 2023. UT won the last meeting in Ypsilanti, 5-2, March 20, 2022, with EMU's last win coming March 26, 2021, in a 4-3 home decision.

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 +17 in wins, and Andrea Quiroz, who is +15. Eloundou is 21-7 this year after posting a 4-9 mark last year while Quiroz sits 18-11 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 5-8).

AMONG THE LEADERS
Freshman Ksyusha Saenko has provided a large amount of wins for the Eagles in her first collegiate season as her 19 singles wins are second on the team (21, Linda Eloundou) while her 31 combined wins are tied for the team lead with both Eloundou and Andrea Quiroz.

ON THE HORIZON
The final weekend of the regular season awaits the Eagles as they will once again play two MAC matches with one at home and one away. First, Eastern will welcome Western Michigan University to the Chippewa Club Friday, April 19, for a 12 p.m. first serve in the home finale for the Eagles. The regular season closes Sunday, April 21, when the Eagles travel south to face the Falcons of Bowling Green State University in a 1 p.m. match in Bowling Green, Ohio.

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

Eastern Michigan Athletics