Tennis Sweeps Home Doubleheader

Highlights

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team played a doubleheader at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti Saturday, Feb. 22, with the Eagles collecting a pair of victories, including a 4-2 defeat of the University of Findlay and a 4-0 sweep of Eastern Illinois University. The Eagles (5-4) have now won three consecutive matches following their defeats of the Oilers (5-2) and Panthers (2-8).

"I am so proud of the team," Head Coach Ryan Kucera said. "We were super gritty today. We didn't have the doubles point we wanted (against Findlay), but the girls dug in. We had to battle from top to bottom and earn every point. Those are the kind of matches where you need to find a way and we did! And then, we followed that up by being laser focused in the second match, we took off in the doubles point, and didn't look back. It was a great day!"

MATCH #1 - FINDLAY
The Eagles came out on top against a scrappy Findlay team, defeating the Oilers, 4-2. The Eagles fell in a 1-0 hole after Findlay captured the doubles point and were down 2-0 after the Oilers captured a straight-sets win at No. 2 singles. From there, the Eagles ran off four consecutive singles victories to take the team win. Regina Mendez (Los Cabos, Mexico/Picacho McGregor) got the Eagles on the board with her 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6 before Lara Diaz Zayas (Mar de Ajo, Argentina/SEADEA) added the second point with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5. Prerna Vichare (Mumbai, India/Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics) followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 3 before Daniella Shved (Holon, Israel/Ort Holon) closed the door with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win at No. 1.

MATCH #2 - EASTERN ILLINOIS
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead against the Panthers by capturing the doubles point. The Eagles received a forfeit win at No. 3 doubles with Mendez and Lily Tria (Westerly, R.I./Westerly/Colby-Sawyer) earning the win before Sabina Brichackova (Cheb, Czechia/Gymnázium Jana Blahoslava) and Diaz Zayas combined to win, 6-1, at No. 2. In singles play, a forfeit win for Tria at No. 6 staked the Eagles to a 2-0 lead before Diaz Zayas added her second win of the day, this time with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4. The match was clinched at No. 5 where Mendez added her second win of the day with a 6-3, 6-4 score.

NOTES
» Two Eagles posted 2-0 records in singles play with Lara Diaz Zayas and Regina Mendez each sweeping their individual matches. The duo also led the team with three total wins on the day as each won once in doubles play.
» Sabina Brichackova went 2-0 in doubles play to bring her career record to 55 wins, leaving her one away from tying both Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) for 19th on the all-time wins list.
» Prerna Vichare teamed with Brichackova in the dual with Findlay to capture her 53rd career doubles win, which leaves her two behind her teammate and three from joining the program's all-time top 20 ledger.
» After going 1-1 in doubles on the day, the Eagles have captured the doubles point in 6-of-9 matches this season. Sabina Brichackova and Lara Diaz Zayas won the clinching point against the Panthers marking the first time the duo has secured the point this year.
» In singles, both Daniella Shved (vs. Findlay) and Regina Mendez (vs. Eastern Illinois) earned team-point-clinching victories with their wins at No. 1 and No. 5, respectively. The clinching points are the first for each player this season.
» With the 4-0 sweep of the Panthers, EMU improved to 170-97 all-time in sweeps. Additionally, the Eagles are now 67-15 when a sweep occurs in a home match.

Up Next
Eastern Michigan will compete in two matches as part of the team's Spring Break trip to California with the Eagles taking on UC San Diego and UC Riverside. The Eagles and Triton will meet Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. ET in La Jolla before the Eagles head to Riverside to take on the Highlanders in a 1 p.m. ET dual Thursday, Feb. 27.

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Eastern Michigan def. Findlay, 4-2
Singles
#1: Daniella Shved (EM) def. Polina Zaytseva, 7-6(3), 6-3
#2: Elina Ivanova (F) def. Kseniia Saenko, 6-0, 6-2
#3: Prerna Vichare (EM) def. Valentina Salek, 6-3, 6-4
#4: Marta Komar (EM) vs. Ivanova Lucero (F), 6-7(3), 4-3, unf.
#5: Lara Diaz Zayas (EM) def. Audrey Ouellet, 6-4, 6-2
#6: Regina Mendez (EM) def. Ivana Gombitova, 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 5, 3, 1

Doubles
#1: Sabina Brichackova / Prerna Vichare (EM) def. Valentina Salek / Polina Zaytseva, 6-4
#2: Elina Ivanova / Audrey Ouellet (F) def. Marta Komar / Regina Mendez, 6-3
#3: Charlie Croteau / Lidia Laskova (F) def. Kseniia Saenko / Daniella Shved, 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

Eastern Michigan def. Eastern Illinois, 4-0
Singles
#1: Daniella Shved (EM) vs. Aleyla Wooten (EI), 6-2, 4-5, unf.
#2: Marta Komar (EM) vs. Ornellia Lomenzo (EI), 7-5, 5-3, unf.
#3: Sabina Brichackova (EM) vs. Michelle Kostadinova (EI), 6-2, 5-2, unf.
#4: Lara Diaz Zayas (EM) def. Luisa Renovales-Salazar, 6-4, 6-4
#5: Regina Mendez (EM) def. Emma Pilipovic-Kljajic, 6-3, 6-4
#6: Lily Tria (EM) won by forfeit
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 5

Doubles
#1: Marta Komar / Daniella Shved (EM) vs. Michelle Kostadinova / Aleyla Wooten (EI), 4-2, unf.
#2: Sabina Brichackova / Lara Diaz Zayas (EM) def. Ornellia Lomenzo / Luisa Renovales-Salazar, 6-1
#3: Regina Mendez / Lily Tria (EM) won by forfeit
Order of Finish: 3, 2

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Sabina Brichackova

Lara Diaz Zayas

Marta Komar

Regina Mendez Carreño

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Lily Tria

Prerna Vichare