Tolstova Guides Eagles to 4-3 Road Win at DePaul

CHICAGO, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) -- Sabrina Tolstova battled back from a first-set loss to claim a three-set victory at No. 2 singles after helping clinch the doubles point earlier to help the Eastern Michigan University tennis team to a 4-3 road win at DePaul University, Friday, Feb. 13, inside the XS Tennis Center in Chicago, Ill. The Eagles (7-3) snapped a three-match slide to jump back into the win column following their defeat of the Blue Demons (5-4).

"[It was] such a great win," Head Coach Ryan Kucera said following the match. "We had to really dig deep and fight together and we did. It is such a beautiful thing to watch us when we are connected and playing with conviction. We needed everyone and everyone showed up. DePaul is a fantastic team and they never went away. Today was a true team win and our level keeps going up. I couldn't be prouder of this group, and I am excited to watch them competing together!"

HOW IT HAPPENED
Only two matches were played in doubles as the Eagles' No. 3 team of Iva Daneva (Kavadarci, North Macedonia/DSU Sportska Akademija) and Regina Mendez Carreño (Los Cabos, Mexico/Picacho McGregor) won by walkover before the match began. After DePaul took a 6-2 win at No. 1, Eastern was the winner of the No. 2 match as Matilde Parreira (Leiria, Portugal/Escola Secundária Afonso Lopes) and Tolstova (Odesa, Ukraine/Tennisquick Los Cristianos) combined for a 6-4 victory that put EMU on top, 1-0.

At the start of singles play, the Eagles were ahead 2-0 as Kseniia Saenko (Voronezh, Russia/Gymnasium 2) was awarded the victory at No. 6 with a walkover in her first match of the season. The hosts battled for the next point and claimed a win at No. 4 to make it 2-1, but Eastern responded with Mendez Carreño scoring a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 5 to build a 3-1 lead. Following a loss at No. 3 that made it 3-2, Tolstova closed out the match as she battled to a three-set win at No. 2, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, to clinch the fourth and final point for the visitors. DePaul won in three sets at No. 1 to cap the match and the 4-3 scoreline.

NOTING THE TEAM
» With the win, the Eagles snapped a three-match losing streak and moved to 7-3 on the year while the Blue Demons fell to 5-4.
» Eastern snapped a three-match skid in its series with DePaul and regained the overall lead at 4-3. The Eagles also leveled their record when playing at DePaul as they stand 2-2 all-time on the Blue Demons' home courts.
» The Eagles captured the doubles point for the seventh time this year and are 7-0 when winning the point. The win at No. 2 doubles by the team of Matilde Parreira and Sabrina Tolstova marked the third time they have clinched the doubles point this season.
» The win at No. 2 singles for Sabrina Tolstova marked her first victory in the position in three matches and also marked the first time she has secured the winning point for the team this season. She is the fifth different Eagle to secure the team-victory-clinching point in 2026 and the third freshman to accomplish the feat.
» The win marked the 31st for Ryan Kucera as the head coach of the Eagles, which tied him for the sixth-highest total in program history with Allison Tookes, who captured 31 wins in her four seasons (1991-95) in Ypsilanti.

Up Next
The Eagles are back in action Saturday, Feb. 14, when they travel to face the Bulldogs of Butler University. The match, slated for a 4 p.m., will be played inside IRC East in Indianapolis, Ind.

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Eastern Michigan def. DePaul, 4-3
Singles
#1: Hannah Smith (D) def. Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
#2: Sabrina Tolstova (EM) def. Clara Nilsson, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2
#3: Yasemin Pehlivan (D) def. Pehal Kharadkar, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1
#4: Roberta Sechi (D) def. Iva Daneva, 6-0, 6-2
#5: Regina Mendez Carreño (EM) def. Helin Alvarez, 6-1, 6-3
#6: Kseniia Saenko (EM) def. Sasha Stula, walkover
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 5, 3, 2, 1

Doubles
#1: Clara Nilsson/Hannah Smith (D) def. Lara Diaz Zayas/Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya, 6-2
#2: Matilde Parreira/Sabrina Tolstova (EM) def. Helin Alvarez/Roberta Sechi, 6-4
#3: Iva Daneva/Regina Mendez Carreño (EM) def. Yasemin Pehlivan/Sasha Stula, walkover
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Iva Daneva

Lara Diaz Zayas

Pehal Kharadkar

Matilde Parreira

Kseniia Saenko

Sabrina Tolstova

Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya