Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, March 14
Ypsilanti, Mich.
1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
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Saginaw Valley State
Tennis Hosts SVSU, Travels to NIU for MAC Opener
3/12/2025 2:59:00 PM | Tennis
EMU plays host to the Cardinals Friday at 1 p.m. at the Chippewa Club
| Spring Dual #13 | vs. SAGINAW VALLEY STATE | |
| Date | Friday, March 14 | 1 p.m. |
| Venue | Chippewa Club | Ypsilanti, Mich. |
| Preview Info | EMU Notes |
| Live | Live Results |
| @EMUEaglesTennis | @EMUAthletics | |
| Spring Dual #14 | at NORTHERN ILLINOIS (MAC Opener) | |
| Date | Sunday, March 16 | 2 p.m. ET |
| Venue | Nelson Tennis Center | DeKalb, Ill. |
| Preview Info | EMU Notes |
| Live | Live Results | Watch Live |
| Tickets | - |
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team will play a pair of matches this weekend as the Eagles will play host to Saginaw Valley State University, Friday, March 14, in a 1 p.m. contest at the Chippewa Club before traveling to the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House in DeKalb, Ill., Sunday, March 16, to face Northern Illinois University. The contest with the Cardinals (1-6) will mark the final non-conference match of the year for the Eagles (6-6) while the match with the Huskies (12-3) will mark the conference opener for both sides.
FIRST SERVES
» Eastern went 1-0 last week with a 7-0 home sweep of visiting Chicago State (March 8).
» The Eagles will close one chapter of their season and open another this weekend as the play Saginaw Valley State at home (March 14) to close the non-conference portion of the schedule before opening MAC play at Northern Illinois (March 16).
» Eastern is 26-15 all-time in its first MAC match of the season and have lost four in a row, including a tough 4-3 loss at Miami (March 17, 2024). The last win in a MAC opener came March 23, 2018, in a 4-3 home win over Akron.
» The Eagles are 15-7 all-time when their first MAC match is also played on the road, despite losing the last two instances, including 4-3 at Miami (March 17, 2024) and 7-0 at Toledo (March 18, 2023).
» Eastern is 24-16 in its MAC road opener despite having lost the last seven competitions.
» The Eagles are 2-1 all-time when their first MAC match of the year is against NIU with all three matches having been played in DeKalb. The last time EMU opened the MAC season at NIU was March 27, 2010, a 5-2 home win for the Huskies. EMU had previously won, 5-4, April 16, 1983, and 7-0, March 22, 2002.
» Sabina Brichackova has won 54 career singles matches, leaving her three away from tying Victoria Domina (2003-05) for 20th on the program's all-time singles wins list with 57.
» Both Sabina Brichackova (55) and Prerna Vichare (53) are closing in on the program's all-time top 20 for doubles victories as the duo needs one and three wins, respectively, to tie Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) for 19th on the ledger with 56 wins.
» The Eagles are 7-of-12 in claiming the doubles point this season. EMU claimed 13-of-23 last year, one season removed from earning the point just four times. All told, the Eagles have won 57.1 percent (20-of-35) doubles points under Ryan Kucera.
» The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles voted to finish third with 35 points while Miami (48) and Toledo (38) were ranked ahead of EMU. Eastern was voted to finish fourth one year ago and did so to earn its first MAC Tournament appearance since 2018.
» The Eagles' 2024-25 roster features 10 players, including six returnees and four newcomers. In total, nine different nations are represented on the roster, including the U.S., Argentina, Czechia, India, Israel, Mexico, North Macedonia, Poland, and Russia.
» Ryan Kucera returns for his second season as the team's head coach and will look to guide the team to the MAC Tournament for the second year in a row, which would mark the first time it has happened since the 2014 and 2015 tournaments.
» Players are not the only addition to the roster this year as the coaching staff has added both Masha Polishchuk and Andrew Dobbs. Polishchuk, a MAC champion during her playing career at Ball State, will serve as a graduate assistant coach while Dobbs will serve as an undergraduate assistant.
KNOW THE FOE: SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 1-6 overall record after their 7-0 sweep of Sioux Falls in Orlando, Fla., snapped a six-match slide that included a 5-2 loss to Bowling Green (March 3). Following their match in Ypsilanti, the Eagles will travel to Detroit, Saturday, March 15, to open GLIAC play at Wayne State (2 p.m.).
IN THE SERIES: SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
The Eagles and Cardinals have met once previously with Eastern claiming a 7-0 sweep, March 30, 2018, in Ann Arbor. The match Saturday will mark the first time either team has hosted the other on their home courts.
THE LAST TIME VS. THE CARDINALS
Eastern Michigan and Saginaw Valley State last met March 30, 2018, in the second of two matches EMU played that day at two different sites. After defeating visiting Ball State, 4-3, in Ypsilanti, the Eagles moved to the UM Tennis Courts in Ann Arbor and swept SVSU, 7-0. In the match, the Eagles secured the doubles point by winning all three contests before sweeping all six singles bouts to finish off the sweep and post their second win of the day against a team named the Cardinals.
KNOW THE FOE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies enter the weekend with a 12-3 record after winning, 5-2, on the road at Marquette. The win over the Golden Eagles followed a 6-1 home loss to Cornell, a loss that snapped a six-match winning streak. Early in the season, NIU won twice before falling, 4-3, at Missouri, and then won three sweeps in a row before falling at Wisconsin, 6-1.
IN THE SERIES: NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Eagles hold a 34-12 lead in the all-time series and stand 13-7 when playing in DeKalb. The Huskies took the most recent match, April 5, 2024, in DeKalb, 5-2, to snap a two-match winning streak in the series for EMU. Prior to those wins, the Huskies had won five consecutive meetings after EMU had taken 7-of-the-last-8 and 21-of-the-23. Of the 46 meetings, the Eagles are 10-0 in sweeps and 3-4 in one-point decisions, including losses in the last four instances.
THE LAST TIME VS. HUSKIES
Northern Illinois won the most recent meeting, 5-2, in DeKalb, Ill., April 5, 2024, one week after the Eagles claimed a 6-1 win over the Huskies in Ypsilanti. In the first meeting, March 27, EMU took an early 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point before winning 5-of-6 in singles play. The following week, the host Huskies took the doubles point for a 1-0 lead before EMU tied it with a win at No. 1. NIU would win at No. 4 before EMU won at No. 3 (2-2), but back-to-back wins at No. 2 and then No. 5 secured the team win for NIU.
LOOKING BACK: HOME SWEEP
The Eagles swept visiting Chicago State, 7-0, March 8, inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti as EMU surrendered just eight games against a depleted CSU side. The Eagles (6-6) swept both doubles matches by 6-0 counts before winning all four singles matches against the Cougars (0-6).
With only four available players, the Cougars forfeited the No. 3 doubles match to Regina Mendez and Kseniia Saenko, meaning the Eagles would need to win just one of the two played matches to secure the doubles point. Eastern won both by 6-0 scores as Lara Diaz Zayas and Daniella Shved clinched the point with their win at No. 2 before Viki Hazmukova and Marta Komar captured their win at No. 1.
At the start of singles play, Hazmukova and Komar received wins by forfeit at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, to stake the Eagles to a 3-0 team lead. The dual was clinched at No. 4 where Lily Tria scored a 6-0, 6-0 win. The remaining three matches also went to EMU, including Saenko winning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3; Mendez winning 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2; and Shved taking a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1.
MAKING THE CLIMB
Sabina Brichackova has continued to pile up wins for the Eagles as the senior has 109 combined victories to her credit, including 54 in singles and 55 in doubles. Her singles total leaves her three away from tying Victoria Domina (2003-05) for 20th on the program's career list while her doubles total is one away from equaling the 56 wins put by both Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18).
IN A CLINCH
Viki Hazmukova has been the closer for the Eagles this season as she has won the clinching point for the team twice in three wins with both coming at the No. 2 singles position. Additionally, of the six doubles points won, Hazmukova has been part of four winning teams, pairing with Marta Komar twice and once each with Sabina Brichackova and Iva Daneva.
POINTING IT OUT
During the 2022-23 season, the Eagles won the doubles point just four times in 15 duals (26.7 percent). With Ryan Kucera taking over last year, the 2023-24 squad won 13 doubles points in 23 duals (56.5 percent). Of those 13 wins, five each were secured at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions with the remaining three secured at No. 2. Through the dual at Michigan State (Feb. 2), the Eagles are 6-of-11 in doubles points with four coming at the No. 2 spot and one each at No. 1 and No. 3.
ENDING A DROUGHT?
The goal every year is to win the MAC Tournament and earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Eagles were able to do so came in 2001 when they swept through the MAC Tournament hosted by Marshall with wins over Ball State (4-1), Western Michigan (4-2), and the host Thundering Herd (4-3). EMU advanced to the NCAA First Round where they fell at No. 8 Notre Dame, 0-4.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles earning 35 points to rank third on the list behind Miami (48 points) and Toledo (38). The remaining rankings, which are based upon votes from the league's coaches, were Northern Illinois (30) in fourth, Ball State (35) fifth, Buffalo (23) sixth, Western Michigan (14) seventh, and Bowling Green (seven) eighth. Additionally, the coaches cast votes on who would win the MAC Tournament, which is slated for April 24-25 in Toledo, Ohio, with Miami earning five votes while EMU, Buffalo, and Toledo each earned one.
In Ryan Kucera's first season with the Eagles (2023-24), Eastern was voted tied for fourth in the preseason before finishing fourth and earning a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. EMU dropped a 4-3 decision to host Toledo in the semifinals.
LOOKING TO REPEAT
Last year, the Eagles finished fourth in the conference standings to earn the fourth and final position in the MAC Tournament, the team's first appearance in the conference event since the 2018 championships. Should Eastern return to the tournament this year, it would mark the first time the Eagles have qualified for the MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons since earning berths in the 2014 and 2015 events. Eastern lost to Miami, 4-2, in the final of the 2014 event before falling to the RedHawks, 4-1, in the semifinals one year later.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Sabina Brichackova captured two wins at the MAC Fall Individuals in Hamilton, Ohio, Oct. 24-27, to record the 99th and 100th combined wins of her career. The senior is the first to reach 100 wins in a career since the 2017-18 season when both Ani Gogvadze (117) and Andrea Matrinovska (111) capped their careers in Ypsilanti.
UP THE LADDER
Sabina Brichackova and doubles partner Prerna Vichare have continued to do well in doubles play as each player has accrued 52 career wins with Vichare securing hers against Oakland (Feb. 1). Currently, Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) are tied for 19th with 56 wins, meaning Brichackova and Vichare are four wins from joining the all-time top 20.
ON THE HORIZON
Two Mid-American Conference matches await Eastern Michigan next weekend as the Eagles will play once each at home and away. The weekend opens Friday, March 21, when the Eagles head to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan University in a 1 p.m. match. The weekend ends Sunday, March 23, when the Cardinals of Ball State University come 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.
FIRST SERVES
» Eastern went 1-0 last week with a 7-0 home sweep of visiting Chicago State (March 8).
» The Eagles will close one chapter of their season and open another this weekend as the play Saginaw Valley State at home (March 14) to close the non-conference portion of the schedule before opening MAC play at Northern Illinois (March 16).
» Eastern is 26-15 all-time in its first MAC match of the season and have lost four in a row, including a tough 4-3 loss at Miami (March 17, 2024). The last win in a MAC opener came March 23, 2018, in a 4-3 home win over Akron.
» The Eagles are 15-7 all-time when their first MAC match is also played on the road, despite losing the last two instances, including 4-3 at Miami (March 17, 2024) and 7-0 at Toledo (March 18, 2023).
» Eastern is 24-16 in its MAC road opener despite having lost the last seven competitions.
» The Eagles are 2-1 all-time when their first MAC match of the year is against NIU with all three matches having been played in DeKalb. The last time EMU opened the MAC season at NIU was March 27, 2010, a 5-2 home win for the Huskies. EMU had previously won, 5-4, April 16, 1983, and 7-0, March 22, 2002.
» Sabina Brichackova has won 54 career singles matches, leaving her three away from tying Victoria Domina (2003-05) for 20th on the program's all-time singles wins list with 57.
» Both Sabina Brichackova (55) and Prerna Vichare (53) are closing in on the program's all-time top 20 for doubles victories as the duo needs one and three wins, respectively, to tie Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) for 19th on the ledger with 56 wins.
» The Eagles are 7-of-12 in claiming the doubles point this season. EMU claimed 13-of-23 last year, one season removed from earning the point just four times. All told, the Eagles have won 57.1 percent (20-of-35) doubles points under Ryan Kucera.
» The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles voted to finish third with 35 points while Miami (48) and Toledo (38) were ranked ahead of EMU. Eastern was voted to finish fourth one year ago and did so to earn its first MAC Tournament appearance since 2018.
» The Eagles' 2024-25 roster features 10 players, including six returnees and four newcomers. In total, nine different nations are represented on the roster, including the U.S., Argentina, Czechia, India, Israel, Mexico, North Macedonia, Poland, and Russia.
» Ryan Kucera returns for his second season as the team's head coach and will look to guide the team to the MAC Tournament for the second year in a row, which would mark the first time it has happened since the 2014 and 2015 tournaments.
» Players are not the only addition to the roster this year as the coaching staff has added both Masha Polishchuk and Andrew Dobbs. Polishchuk, a MAC champion during her playing career at Ball State, will serve as a graduate assistant coach while Dobbs will serve as an undergraduate assistant.
KNOW THE FOE: SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 1-6 overall record after their 7-0 sweep of Sioux Falls in Orlando, Fla., snapped a six-match slide that included a 5-2 loss to Bowling Green (March 3). Following their match in Ypsilanti, the Eagles will travel to Detroit, Saturday, March 15, to open GLIAC play at Wayne State (2 p.m.).
IN THE SERIES: SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
The Eagles and Cardinals have met once previously with Eastern claiming a 7-0 sweep, March 30, 2018, in Ann Arbor. The match Saturday will mark the first time either team has hosted the other on their home courts.
THE LAST TIME VS. THE CARDINALS
Eastern Michigan and Saginaw Valley State last met March 30, 2018, in the second of two matches EMU played that day at two different sites. After defeating visiting Ball State, 4-3, in Ypsilanti, the Eagles moved to the UM Tennis Courts in Ann Arbor and swept SVSU, 7-0. In the match, the Eagles secured the doubles point by winning all three contests before sweeping all six singles bouts to finish off the sweep and post their second win of the day against a team named the Cardinals.
KNOW THE FOE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies enter the weekend with a 12-3 record after winning, 5-2, on the road at Marquette. The win over the Golden Eagles followed a 6-1 home loss to Cornell, a loss that snapped a six-match winning streak. Early in the season, NIU won twice before falling, 4-3, at Missouri, and then won three sweeps in a row before falling at Wisconsin, 6-1.
IN THE SERIES: NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Eagles hold a 34-12 lead in the all-time series and stand 13-7 when playing in DeKalb. The Huskies took the most recent match, April 5, 2024, in DeKalb, 5-2, to snap a two-match winning streak in the series for EMU. Prior to those wins, the Huskies had won five consecutive meetings after EMU had taken 7-of-the-last-8 and 21-of-the-23. Of the 46 meetings, the Eagles are 10-0 in sweeps and 3-4 in one-point decisions, including losses in the last four instances.
THE LAST TIME VS. HUSKIES
Northern Illinois won the most recent meeting, 5-2, in DeKalb, Ill., April 5, 2024, one week after the Eagles claimed a 6-1 win over the Huskies in Ypsilanti. In the first meeting, March 27, EMU took an early 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point before winning 5-of-6 in singles play. The following week, the host Huskies took the doubles point for a 1-0 lead before EMU tied it with a win at No. 1. NIU would win at No. 4 before EMU won at No. 3 (2-2), but back-to-back wins at No. 2 and then No. 5 secured the team win for NIU.
LOOKING BACK: HOME SWEEP
The Eagles swept visiting Chicago State, 7-0, March 8, inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti as EMU surrendered just eight games against a depleted CSU side. The Eagles (6-6) swept both doubles matches by 6-0 counts before winning all four singles matches against the Cougars (0-6).
With only four available players, the Cougars forfeited the No. 3 doubles match to Regina Mendez and Kseniia Saenko, meaning the Eagles would need to win just one of the two played matches to secure the doubles point. Eastern won both by 6-0 scores as Lara Diaz Zayas and Daniella Shved clinched the point with their win at No. 2 before Viki Hazmukova and Marta Komar captured their win at No. 1.
At the start of singles play, Hazmukova and Komar received wins by forfeit at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, to stake the Eagles to a 3-0 team lead. The dual was clinched at No. 4 where Lily Tria scored a 6-0, 6-0 win. The remaining three matches also went to EMU, including Saenko winning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3; Mendez winning 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2; and Shved taking a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1.
MAKING THE CLIMB
Sabina Brichackova has continued to pile up wins for the Eagles as the senior has 109 combined victories to her credit, including 54 in singles and 55 in doubles. Her singles total leaves her three away from tying Victoria Domina (2003-05) for 20th on the program's career list while her doubles total is one away from equaling the 56 wins put by both Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18).
IN A CLINCH
Viki Hazmukova has been the closer for the Eagles this season as she has won the clinching point for the team twice in three wins with both coming at the No. 2 singles position. Additionally, of the six doubles points won, Hazmukova has been part of four winning teams, pairing with Marta Komar twice and once each with Sabina Brichackova and Iva Daneva.
POINTING IT OUT
During the 2022-23 season, the Eagles won the doubles point just four times in 15 duals (26.7 percent). With Ryan Kucera taking over last year, the 2023-24 squad won 13 doubles points in 23 duals (56.5 percent). Of those 13 wins, five each were secured at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions with the remaining three secured at No. 2. Through the dual at Michigan State (Feb. 2), the Eagles are 6-of-11 in doubles points with four coming at the No. 2 spot and one each at No. 1 and No. 3.
ENDING A DROUGHT?
The goal every year is to win the MAC Tournament and earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Eagles were able to do so came in 2001 when they swept through the MAC Tournament hosted by Marshall with wins over Ball State (4-1), Western Michigan (4-2), and the host Thundering Herd (4-3). EMU advanced to the NCAA First Round where they fell at No. 8 Notre Dame, 0-4.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles earning 35 points to rank third on the list behind Miami (48 points) and Toledo (38). The remaining rankings, which are based upon votes from the league's coaches, were Northern Illinois (30) in fourth, Ball State (35) fifth, Buffalo (23) sixth, Western Michigan (14) seventh, and Bowling Green (seven) eighth. Additionally, the coaches cast votes on who would win the MAC Tournament, which is slated for April 24-25 in Toledo, Ohio, with Miami earning five votes while EMU, Buffalo, and Toledo each earned one.
In Ryan Kucera's first season with the Eagles (2023-24), Eastern was voted tied for fourth in the preseason before finishing fourth and earning a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. EMU dropped a 4-3 decision to host Toledo in the semifinals.
LOOKING TO REPEAT
Last year, the Eagles finished fourth in the conference standings to earn the fourth and final position in the MAC Tournament, the team's first appearance in the conference event since the 2018 championships. Should Eastern return to the tournament this year, it would mark the first time the Eagles have qualified for the MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons since earning berths in the 2014 and 2015 events. Eastern lost to Miami, 4-2, in the final of the 2014 event before falling to the RedHawks, 4-1, in the semifinals one year later.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Sabina Brichackova captured two wins at the MAC Fall Individuals in Hamilton, Ohio, Oct. 24-27, to record the 99th and 100th combined wins of her career. The senior is the first to reach 100 wins in a career since the 2017-18 season when both Ani Gogvadze (117) and Andrea Matrinovska (111) capped their careers in Ypsilanti.
UP THE LADDER
Sabina Brichackova and doubles partner Prerna Vichare have continued to do well in doubles play as each player has accrued 52 career wins with Vichare securing hers against Oakland (Feb. 1). Currently, Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) are tied for 19th with 56 wins, meaning Brichackova and Vichare are four wins from joining the all-time top 20.
ON THE HORIZON
Two Mid-American Conference matches await Eastern Michigan next weekend as the Eagles will play once each at home and away. The weekend opens Friday, March 21, when the Eagles head to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan University in a 1 p.m. match. The weekend ends Sunday, March 23, when the Cardinals of Ball State University come 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.
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