Eastern Michigan Athletics

Friday, March 27
Ypsilanti, Mich.
1 p.m.

Eastern Michigan University

vs

Buffalo

Matilde Parreira prepares to return a ball in a match with North Florida
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography

Tennis Welcomes Buffalo Friday for MAC Contest

3/25/2026 1:46:00 PM | Tennis

Eagles are coming off a big 6-1 home defeat of visiting Toledo

Spring Dual #19 | vs. BUFFALO
Date Friday, March 27  |  1 p.m.
Venue Chippewa Club  |  Ypsilanti
Preview Info EMU Notes | Media Guide
Live  Live Results
Twitter @EMUEaglesTennis  | @EMUAthletics
  Y
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team is set to welcome the University at Buffalo Bulls to the Chippewa Club Friday, March 27, for a Mid-American Conference match slated for a 1 p.m. first serve. The Eagles (10-8, 1-3 MAC) are coming off a big 6-1 home win over the University of Toledo while the Bulls (15-4, 2-0 MAC) are one of the two remaining undefeated teams in conference play after winning twice last week.
 
FIRST SERVES
» The Eagles are 10-8 overall and 1-3 in MAC play after splitting a pair of matches last week that included a tough 4-3 loss at Bowling Green (March 20) before rebounding to grab a big 6-1 home win over Toledo (March 22).
» Freshman Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya was 2-0 in singles action last week with both of her wins coming in straight sets at the No. 1 position. She was named the MAC Singles Player of the Week for her efforts, landing the first singles honor of the season for the team.
» The Eagles' four freshmen have combined to win 54 of the team's 72 wins this season (75 percent) with Matilde Parreira (15 wins) and Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya (14) leading the way.
» Matilde Parreira recorded the clinching point at No. 5 singles against Toledo and was part of the doubles-clinching team with Sabrina Tolstova as well. Parreira has clinched the team's winning point in 4-of-10 victories (40. 0 percent) while she and Tolstova have captured 6-of-9 clinching wins in doubles (66.7 percent). All told, she has had a hand in 52.6 percent of all clinching points this year.
» Regina Mendez Carreño secured wins at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles against NIU (March 13) to mark her first career MAC victories in both. She entered the dual 0-6 all-time in MAC singles matches and had not played doubles in a MAC contest before taking on the Huskies.
» Eastern is in its 49th varsity season in 2026 and, following its weekend split, is now 555-475 all-time. The 4-2 win at St. Francis (Pa.), Jan. 24, stands as the 550th victory in program history.
» Under Ryan Kucera, the Eagles have posted a 25-3 record at home, including an 11-0 mark in his debut season (2024), a 10-2 mark last year, and a 4-1 start in 2026. In the six seasons played ahead of Kucera's arrival, the Eagles were 21-30 at home.
» Eastern has been strong in doubles play under Ryan Kucera as they have won 56.3 percent (36-of-64) of the doubles points since the start of the 2024 season. The Eagles were 13-of-23 in 2024 before improving to 14-of-22 last year and have won 9-of-18 this year.
» In the three seasons Ryan Kucera has led the program, Eastern holds a record of 29-7 when it wins the doubles point and has won 11 consecutive matches when securing the point. Conversely, EMU is 5-23 when it does not win the point, including its 4-3 win at home over Bradley, Feb. 20.
» 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.
» 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.
» Ryan Kucera ranks sixth all-time in wins by a head coach in program history with 33. The wins at DePaul (No. 31) and Butler (No. 32) pushed him ahead of Allison Tookes, who had 31 from 1991-95.
 
LAST TIME OUT: SPLITTING MAC MATCHES
The Eagles played a pair of MAC matches last weekend with one win and one loss. The weekend opened March 20 with EMU dropping a 4-3 decision at Bowling Green before closing the week, March 22, with a 6-1 home win over Toledo. Freshmen Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya, Sabrina Tolstova, and Matilde Parreira all went 2-0 in singles action to lead the Eagles while Pehal Kharadkar and Lara Diaz Zayas snapped personal losing streaks to secure wins in the victory over Toledo.
 
AND THE HONOR GOES TO...
The Mid-American Conference announced Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya as its MAC Singles Player of the Week, March 24. The freshman had a solid week for the Eagles as she swept through her two opponents at No. 1 singles. She opened the weekend with a 6-4, 6-1 win at Bowling Green over junior Tia Clemens before capping the weekend with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of JJ Scholten of Toledo, the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year. Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya is now 3-1 in MAC play and is second on the team with 14 wins after helping the Eagles defeat Toledo, 6-1, for their first conference win of the season and back-to-back home wins over the Rockets for the first time since 2004.
 
BIG WIN AGAINST TOLEDO
Not only was the home win against Toledo the first MAC victory of the year for the Eagles, but it also marked the first time Eastern had won back-to-back home matches with the Rockets in nearly 22 years. The last time the Eagles downed the Rockets in consecutive home matches came with wins of 6-1 on April 19, 2002, and 7-0 on April 2, 2004. The 6-1 win was the largest margin of victory for Eastern in the series since winning by the same score at Toledo, April 15, 2005, and marked the first time in the last 24 matches that EMU had scored five or more points on Toledo. Finally, the win was the largest home win in the series for the Eagles since their 7-0 shutout of the Rockets in 2004.
 
HOME PROTECTION
Since taking over the program ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Eagles hold a 25-3 record at home under Ryan Kucera, a mark that included the Eagles going a perfect 11-0 at home in 2024, 10-2 last year, and 4-1 in 2026 following their 6-1 win over Toledo (March 22). In the previous six seasons played ahead of Kucera's arrival, the Eagles were 21-30, including a 3-4 mark in the 2022-23 season. The win totals also rank as the highest (11) and second-highest (10) in single-season history for the program.
 
WINDING DOWN
Eastern has two home matches remaining on its schedule in 2026, starting with the Buffalo match this week. The final chance to see the Eagles in action at home comes April 19 when Eastern will play host to Western Michigan on Senior Day.
 
STRAIGHT TO THE (DOUBLES) POINT
Eastern has captured the doubles point in 9-of-18 matches (50 percent) played this season and has secured the point in 56.3 percent of matches played under Ryan Kucera (36-of-64) since the start of the 2024 season. Ahead of his arrival, the Eagles captured the point just four times (26.7 percent) in the 2022-23 season before winning the point 56.5 percent in 2024 (13-of-23) and 60.9 percent last year (14-of-23).
 
DOUBLES TALES
Since Ryan Kucera took over ahead of the 2023-24 season, doubles have been a key component to the team's success. In the 64 matches played, the Eagles have won the doubles point 36 times (56.3 percent) which has translated into a 29-7 record in the team match and wins in 11 consecutive team duals when winning the doubles point. Conversely, the Eagles are 5-23 when they don't win the doubles point, including the 4-3 win over Bradley at home, Feb. 20.
 
WHEN TWO IS ONE
Through the match with Toledo (March 22), the Eagles have captured the doubles point 9-of-18 times this year with the team of Matilde Parreira and Sabrina Tolstova adding the point-clinching win six times, including most recently against the Rockets with their 6-4 decision at the No. 2 spot. The freshmen duo has clinched the point five times from the No. 2 position while adding one at the No. 1 spot.
 
BRINGING IN THE CLOSER?
Following her clinching point at No. 5 singles against Toledo (March 22), Matilde Parreira has been a closer of late for the Eagles as she clinched the deciding point four times in the Eagles' 10 victories in 2026 (40.0 percent). Adding in the six doubles points clinched with playing partner Sabrina Tolstova, Parreira has had a hand in 10 of the 19 clinching points (6-of-9 doubles points and 4-of-10 team dual points) this season, equating to 52.6 percent.
 
ROOKIES ROCKING
The four freshmen added to the roster this year have made immediate impacts for the Eagles as they lead the team in singles wins and combined wins through the match played against Toledo (March 22). Matilde Parreira leads the team in singles wins (15) and combined wins (28) while sitting tied for the lead in doubles victories with playing partner Sabrina Tolstova (13). Tolstova has also reached 26 combined wins in her rookie season as she has added 13 singles wins. Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya has added 14 singles wins while securing 22 combined wins while Pehel Kharadkar each have added 12 singles wins. All told, the four rookies have combined to win 54 of the team's 72 singles wins this year (75.0 percent of the wins).
 
A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING
Ahead of the match with Northern Illinois (March 13), Regina Mendez Carreño had not won a MAC match in her career as she stood 0-6 in singles and had not competed in doubles. The senior played both singles and doubles against the Huskies where she secured her first wins in both. In doubles, she paired with Iva Daneva to grab a 6-2 victory at No. 3 before she secured a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles. Mendez Carreño has secured 46 combined wins in her career, leaving her four away from reaching 50.
 
KNOW THE FOE: BUFFALO
The Bulls enter the week with a 15-4 overall record and stand 2-0 in the MAC following a 5-2 win at Northern Illinois (March 20) and a 6-1 home defeat of Ball State (March 22). One of only two teams remaining undefeated in MAC play (UMass is 4-0), the Bulls are 13-1 at home, but 2-3 away from Buffalo, including 2-2 in road matches. Eastern and Buffalo share two common non-conference opponents with both teams posting 2-0 records as the Eagles defeated Youngstown State, 6-1, at home and Cleveland State, 4-3, on the road while the Bulls scored 7-0 victories in both matches with the wins coming at CSU and at home over YSU.
 
IN THE SERIES: BUFFALO
Eastern trails Buffalo, 15-12, in the series and also trails when hosting the Bulls, 7-5, following the Eagles' 4-3 home win, April 7, 2024. The Bulls, who won the last meeting, 5-2, in Buffalo, April 6, 2025, had won eight consecutive meetings prior to Eastern snapping the skid with its home win two years ago. Fourteen of the 27 matches played have been decided by either one point (seven times) or in a sweep (seven times) with the Eagles holding a 5-2 record in both.
 
THE LAST TIME VS. BUFFALO
Despite winning the doubles point for an early 1-0 lead, the Eagles dropped a 5-2 decision at Buffalo, April 6, 2025, at the Miller Tennis Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Daniella Shved captured a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-2) at No. 1 singles for the team's second point, but the Bulls won the final five singles bouts to capture the MAC win.
 
THE LAST TIME HOSTING BUFFALO
The Eagles and Bulls last met in Ypsilanti, April 7, 2024, with Eastern grabbing a 4-3 win. After claiming the doubles point, the teams traded points as the Bulls won at No. 3 (1-1) before the Eagles regained the lead after a win at No. 4. After UB tied it at 2-2 with a win at No. 5, Eastern would capture wins at No. 2 and No. 1 to secure the victory before the Bulls added the final point with a win at No. 6 to bring about the 4-3 final score.
 
BACK-TO-BACK?
Eastern is looking to win back-to-back home matches against Buffalo for the first time since 2002 and 2004 with nine matches played since then. The Eagles won the first seven meetings in the series with three home wins by 7-0 scores, including March 24, 2000, April 13, 2002, and April 17, 2004. Since then, Eastern is 2-7 at home after winning, 4-3, in the most recent meeting in Ypsilanti (April 7, 2024).
 
ROAD WINS
The loss at Michigan State (Feb. 1) also was the first of the year on the road for EMU, which halted their four-match winning streak away from home. The 4-0 start tied for the third-best road showing in program history with only the 2002-03 and 1983-84 teams starting better as both opened at 6-0. Eastern has rebounded since then with two wins for a 6-2 road record in 2025-26.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Only three matches remain on the regular season schedule with the Eagles playing once each of the next three weeks, starting with a road trip to face Ball State University, April 3, in Muncie, Ind. The Eagles and Cardinals are scheduled to meet at 12 p.m. at the Foster Adams Family Tennis Complex and Bill Richards Tennis Courts.
 
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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