Tennis Downs Visiting Buffalo, 4-3

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – For the first time since 2014, the Eastern Michigan University tennis team defeated the University at Buffalo as the Eagles posted a 4-3 Mid-American Conference victory at home Sunday, April 7, on the outdoor courts of the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. The Eagles (9-9, 3-3 MAC), who remained undefeated at home at 9-0, won the doubles point from the Bulls (15-8, 2-4 MAC), which would be the difference after each team split the singles matches.

Quoting Kucera
"What a match!" Head Coach Ryan Kucera said. "It was such a tough performance from the team. We were disappointed with some of the mistakes we made mentally on Friday (at Northern Illinois), but I am so proud of how we turned around and made the changes we needed to make. It was a battle from beginning to end. Buffalo is a great doubles team, but we were incredibly composed and clear with our plan. It was a locked in doubles point on all three courts. Buffalo fought back in singles; they're a tough team at every position. They took 5 first sets and really put our backs against the wall. But everyone dug deep. Our discipline late in matches was the best it's been."

How It Happened
The Eagles opened the match by securing the doubles point as EMU nearly swept all three matches. Linda Eloundou (Yaounde, Cameroon/Augustine Meyou/New Mexico Military Institute) and Andrea Quiroz (Lima, Peru/La Molina 1278/Alcorn State) got the ball rolling with a 6-2 win at No. 2 before Daniella Shved (Holon, Israel/Ort Holon) and Prerna Vichare (Mumbai, India/Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics) took the win at No. 1 with a 6-3 decision. The team of Sabina Brichackova (Cheb, Czech Republic/Gymnázium Jana Blahoslava) and Ksyusha Saenko (Voronezh, Russia/Gymnasium 2) led their match, 5-2, at No. 3 when the doubles point was clinched and the match abandoned.

Heading into singles play, the Bulls tied things at 1-1 with a win at No. 3 before Eloundou notched a 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 4 to make it 2-1. After the Bulls tied it up with a win at No. 5, the Eagles would win back-to-back matches to claim the team win. First, Quiroz battled her way to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 2 before Shved locked up the team win with her 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 1. UB won at No. 6 to claim the final point and make it, 4-3.

Notes
›› Eastern fell to 9-9 overall and 3-3 in MAC play while Buffalo fell to 15-8 overall and 2-4 in the MAC.
›› The Eagles snapped a eight-match losing streak to the Bulls, winning for the first time since a 4-3 victory, March 21, 2014, at Buffalo. The win also snapped a five-match home losing skid in the series with the last win in Ypsilanti coming on a 4-3 decision, April 9, 2011. EMU is now 12-14 all-time against UB.
›› The Eagles have yet to win on the road this season, holding a 9-0 record at home and a 0-9 mark on the road.
›› Eastern is now 107-95 all-time in one-point duals and 65-15 when the match is played at home. Additionally, the Eagles are 41-44 in MAC matches decided by one point and 18-21 when hosting the match.
›› The Eagles captured the doubles point for the ninth time this season and the eighth time at home after only securing the point four times all last year. Eastern also has captured the doubles point in four of its five MAC matches in 2024.
›› Daniella Shved, who clinched the team win over the Bulls, went undefeated on the weekend as she won both of her matches at No. 1 singles and won her lone doubles match that finished, a 6-3 victory against Buffalo with teammate Prerna Vichare.
›› Linda Eloundou and Andrea Quiroz also had a strong day as they not only won their doubles match today, but added singles wins to help the Eagles remain perfect at home.

Up Next
Eastern will play two more MAC matches next week as they will face Western Michigan University on the road and the University of Toledo at home. The Eagles and Broncos will meet Friday, April 12, in Kalamazoo for a 12 p.m. first serve before Eastern returns home Sunday, April 14, for a 1 p.m. meeting with the Rockets.

Follow Along
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.

Eastern Michigan 4, Buffalo 3
April 7 • Chippewa Club • Ypsilanti, Mich.
SINGLES
#1: Daniella Shved (E) def. Jagmeet Kaur, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
#2: Andrea Quiroz (E) def. Azra Deniz Comlek, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
#3: Laura Koralnik (B) def. Ksyusha Saenko, 6-2, 6-1
#4: Linda Eloundou (E) def. Ambre Amat, 7-5, 6-4
#5: Esmee Andresen (B) def. Sabina Brichackova, 6-3, 6-4
#6: Deanne Choo (B) def. Regina Mendez, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 5, 2, 1, 6

DOUBLES
#1: Daniella Shved/Prerna Vichare (E) def. Ambre Amat/Esmee Andresen, 6-3
#2: Linda Eloundou/Andrea Quiroz (E) def. Azra Deniz Comlek/Laura Koalnik, 6-2
#3: Sabina Brichackova/Ksyusha Saenko (E) led Deanne Choo/Jagmeet Kaur (B), 5-2, unfinished
Order of Finish: 2, 1

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Sabina Brichackova

Linda Eloundou

Regina Mendez Carreño

Andrea Quiroz

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Prerna Vichare