Tennis Closes Fall Slate at Drake Invitational

FALL TOURNAMENT #5 - DRAKE INVITATIONAL
Date	Friday-Sunday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2025 \| 9:30 a.m. CT daily
Venue	Roger Knapp Tennis Center \| Des Moines, Iowa
Preview Info	EMU Notes (pdf)
Live	n/a
Social Media	X: @EMUEaglesTennis \| Instagram: @EMU_Tennis

DES MOINES, Iowa (EMUEagles.com) -- For the final time in the fall season, the Eastern Michigan University tennis team will hit the courts as the Eagles are set to compete in the Drake Invitational, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, inside the Roger Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The three-day event, hosted by Drake University, will feature individuals from six schools with players competing in four singles and three doubles matches.

ON THE COURTS FOR EASTERN
Here are the Eagles that could compete at the 2025 Drake Invitational:
» Lara Diaz Zayas (So.) • Competed in the main draw of the ITA Midwest Regional in singles and doubles
» Regina Mendez Carreno (Sr.) • Posted her first win at the ITA Midwest Regional in straight sets
» Sabrina Tolstova (Fr.) • Collected her first three collegiate singles wins at the ITA event
» Matilde Parreira (Fr.) • Added her team-leading fifth singles win of the season at the ITA Midwest
» Pehal Kharadkar (Fr.) • Competed in doubles at the ITA Midwest Regional in the main draw

FIRST SERVES
» At the ITA Midwest Regional (Oct. 16-19), Eastern captured eight wins, including six in singles play, both of which tied for the most the team has produced in the last 10 years. The last time it happened was 2023, Ryan Kucera's first season in Ypsilanti, and had not happened since 2015.
» Eastern has won 20 matches (15 singles and five doubles) at the ITA event under Ryan Kucera, the most the program has produced in a three-year span since the 2014-16 events produced 27.
» Sabrina Tolstova not only won her first collegiate singles match but also led the team with three wins at the ITA event. After falling in the first round of the qualifiers, Tolstova ripped off three wins in consolation play, including two in three sets.
» Matilde Parreira captured one win in consolation play at the ITA event to bring her season total to team-leading five victories.
» The 2025-26 Eastern Michigan roster features eight players from eight countries and four continents. Included on the roster are four returning Eagles in Iva Daneva, Lara Diaz Zayas, Regina Mendez Carreño, and Kseniia Saenko, and four newcomers in Pehal Kharadkar, Matilde Parreira, Sabrina Tolstova, and Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya.
» With the four freshmen included, the EMU roster boasts players from eight countries, including Argentina, India, Indonesia, Mexico, North Macedonia, Portugal, Russia, and Ukraine. All told, the Eagles are represented on four continents, including North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.
» The Eagles are experiencing a youth movement as the eight-player roster includes four freshmen, two sophomores, one junior, and one senior.
» Ryan Kucera returns for his third season as the head coach and will look to guide the team to the MAC Tournament for the second time. He has guided the team to back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons when Tim Gray led the team to consecutive 16-win campaigns.

EVENT INFO: THE TEAMS
Eastern will be one of six teams competing this weekend at the Drake Relays. Along with the Eagles and host Drake, the field features Iowa State, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, and Omaha. The event will give the Eagles another chance to compete against players from other conferences, including the Missouri Valley (Drake and Northern Iowa), the Big 12 (Iowa State), and the Summit League (North Dakota and Omaha).

EVENT INFO: THE FORMAT
The Drake Invitational will feature singles matches played over three days with doubles matches taking place Friday and Sunday. The event opens Friday, Oct. 31, with two doubles and one singles match being played before two singles matches are played Saturday, Nov. 1. On Sunday, Nov. 2, one doubles and one singles match will be held. Action begins each day at 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 a.m. ET).

BEEN A WHILE
The Drake Invitational, being played in Des Moines, Iowa, will mark the first time the Eagles have played in the state of Iowa since the 2015-16 season when Eastern dropped a pair of matches in Iowa City. That season, EMU fell, 6-1, at Iowa (Feb. 6, 2016) one day before dropping a 6-1 decision to Marquette (Feb. 7).

BACK HOME
When Eastern plays at Drake this week, it will mark a homecoming of sorts for Ryan Kucera, who got his start in the coaching ranks in the city. Ahead of his first collegiate job, he served as a tennis professional at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. He also served as the off-season tennis coach at a pair of Des Moines-area high schools (West Des Moines Valley High School and Urbandale High School) during that time.

RECAP: ITA MIDWEST REGIONAL
Eastern Michigan sent six players to Urbana, Ill., Oct. 16-19, to compete in the 2025 ITA Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Illinois. Here is how the Eagles fared:

Singles: Five Eagles took part in singles play with Lara Diaz Zayas playing in the main draw while four others played in the qualifying draw. In the qualifiers, Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya won her first match, but fell in her second and missed the main draw by one match while Sabrina Tolstova bounced back from her opening round loss to secure three wins in consolation matches.

Doubles: Three doubles teams took the court in the main draw and went 2-1 in the opening round with wins secured by the teams of Diaz Zayas/Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya and Matilde Parreira/Tolstova. Both teams dropped tough matches in the second round to be bounced from the event.

COLLECTING WINS
As a team, the Eagles combined to collect eight wins in the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, including six wins in singles play and two in doubles. All three totals tied for the most under Ryan Kucera after duplicating the win totals from his first year with the program in 2023. Additionally, the win totals in all three categories tied for the second-highest total in the past 10 years.

FRESHMEN SHINING
At the ITA Midwest Regional Championships (Oct. 16-19), the Eagles collected eight total wins, including six in singles and two in doubles. Of those eight wins, freshmen accounted for five singles victories while three of the four players in the doubles victories were rookies. All told, two freshmen lead the team in wins currently with Matilde Parreira's five victories and Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya's four sit second.

FIRST WINS
All four newcomers to the program competed at the season-opening Block E Invitational (Sept. 19-20) at the Chippewa Club with each recording the first wins in their collegiate careers. Both Matilde Parreira and Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya collected four wins on opening weekend as they both posted perfect 3-0 records in singles action while adding one win in doubles play. Additionally, Pehal Kharadkar captured her first collegiate win in singles play while Sabrina Tolstova earned her first victory in a doubles match with Perreira as her partner. Tolstova recently secured her first wins in singles action after she went 3-1 at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships (Oct. 16-19).

STRAIGHT TO THE POINTS
Not only did Matilde Parreira and Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya post undefeated records in singles action, but both did also so without dropping a set. Perreira led the way by losing just 14 games in the six sets she played while Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya surrendered only 19 with two of her matches coming against MAC foes (Bowling Green and Toledo).

ON THE HORIZON
The fall slate has come to an end. The Eagles return to action Jan. 17, 2026, when they open the dual portion of their season by playing host to the Vikings of Cleveland State University inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. The match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. The Eagles also will play a road doubleheader at Ferris State University two days later (Jan. 19) to conclude its opening weekend.

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

Iva Daneva

Lara Diaz Zayas

Pehal Kharadkar

Matilde Parreira

Kseniia Saenko

Sabrina Tolstova

Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya

Eastern Michigan Athletics