Tennis Sends Seniors Out with 5-2 Win over Bowling Green

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team secured a 5-2 home win over visiting Bowling Green State University Sunday, April 13, inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti where the Eagles' seniors played a pivotal role in the team claiming victory on Senior Day. The Eagles (11-11, 4-5 Mid-American Conference) saw three seniors combine to win the doubles point and added two wins in singles action to lift the team over the Falcons (9-13, 0-9 MAC).

"What a great way to celebrate our seniors," Head Coach Ryan Kucera said. "It was a true team performance today. Sabina (Brichackova) and Prerna (Vichare) played one of their best matches of the year at No. 1 doubles, and, as they've done all year, set the tone on all three courts. We were aggressive, put ourselves in good positions and we executed well. It was awesome to ride that momentum and win the first four singles matches off the board. I am really proud to see us end our home season in strong fashion. It was awesome for Marta (Komar) to get the clinch in her last home match here. Overall, I am really happy for this group of seniors; they have changed the trajectory of EMU tennis and represented us so well. We are thankful for all they have done for our program. Now, we will turn our attention to Ball State. We are excited to finish the regular season strong next week and close out the regular season with a win."

Prior to the match, the program took time to recognize the contributions of four its student-athletes on Senior Day. The team honored Sabina Brichackova (Cheb, Czechia/Gymnázium Jana Blahoslava) and Prerna Vichare (Mumbai, India/Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics), who have been members of the program for four years; two-year member Lily Tria (Westerly, R.I./Westerly/Colby-Sawyer); and one-year player Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland/Sopocka (Sopot) Tennis Academy/Wayne State).

Eastern captured the doubles point for the fourth consecutive match as they swept the two completed matches for an early 1-0 lead. The senior duo of Brichackova and Vichare combined for their 44th career win as they captured a 6-2 decision at No. 1. The point was clinched at the No. 3 position with Komar and Daniella Shved (Holon, Israel/Ort Holon) winning, 6-3.

Jumping into singles play, the Eagles captured four consecutive wins, including three in straight sets, to secure the team victory. Viki Hazmukova (Skvorec, Czechia/Skoly Brezova) got the ball rolling with her 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 before Kseniia Saenko (Voronezh, Russia/Gymnasium 2) followed with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 5. Leading, 3-0, Komar completed her 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 to clinch the team victory on Senior Day. Vichare followed with her three-set comeback, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3. With the match decided, the final two went to a 10-point tiebreaker in the third set with the Falcons winning both, including the matches at No. 4 and No. 1.

Match Notes
» Ahead of the match, the program honored its four seniors on Senior Day, including Sabina Brichackova, Marta Komar, Lily Tria, and Prerna Vichare.
» Eastern improved to 11-11 overall and 4-5 in MAC play while Bowling Green fell to 9-13 overall and 0-9 in league action.
» The Eagles finished their regular season home schedule with a 10-2 record and improved to 21-2 in home matches under Ryan Kucera. The 10 home wins this season are the second-most in program history behind last year's 11-0 record.
» The win marked the 50th for Ryan Kucera as a collegiate head coach. He has 32 wins in NCAA Division I (23 at EMU and nine at Milwaukee) and 18 in NCAA Division II with Minnesota State Mankato.
» Marta Komar made the most of her Senior Day as she joined with Daniella Shved to clinch the doubles point before clinching the team win with EMU's fourth point of the day. The duo clinched the doubles point twice this season with both coming this weekend at home while Komar secured the team win for the second time this year as well.
» Prerna Vichare secured two wins on the day as her three-set win at No. 3 singles that followed her win at No. 1 doubles with Sabina Brichackova. With the wins, Vichare raised her career record to 60 doubles wins, which ranks 19th all-time in EMU history while bringing her combined wins total to 99.
» Sabina Brichackova's win at No. 1 doubles with Prerna Vichare, their 44th as a duo, brought her career total to 62 doubles wins and 119 combined wins. She is currently tied for 16th all-time on the doubles ledger while sitting two wins from tying for 17th on the combined wins list.

Up Next
Eastern will conclude its regular season schedule Friday, April 18, with a 1 p.m. road contest at Ball State University. The match will be played at the Foster Adams Family Tennis Center and Bill Richards Tennis Courts in Muncie, Ind.

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Eastern Michigan def. Bowling Green, 5-2
Singles
#1: Tia Clemens (BG) def. Daniella Shved, 7-6(7), 6-7(5), 1-0(10)
#2: Viki Hazmukova (EM) def. Isabella Baker, 6-0, 6-2
#3: Prerna Vichare (EM) def. Qianyu Liu, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
#4: Konstantina Adamopoulou (BG) def. Sabina Brichackova, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(9)
#5: Kseniia Saenko (EM) def. Leticia Fonseca, 6-1, 6-1
#6: Marta Komar (EM) def. Lucia Gaio, 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 6, 3, 4, 1

Doubles
#1: S. Brichackova / P. Vichare (EM) def. I. Baker / T. Clemens, 6-2
#2: V. Hazmukova / K. Saenko (EM) vs. L. Fonseca / L. Gaio (BG), 4-3, unfinished
#3: M. Komar / D. Shved (EM) def. K. Adamopoulou / Q. Liu, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Sabina Brichackova

Viki Hazmukova

Marta Komar

Kseniia Saenko

Daniella Shved

Lily Tria

Prerna Vichare