YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University tennis team closed a near perfect weekend at home as the Eagles swept a pair of duals from visiting Ferris State University Sunday, Jan. 28, inside the Chippewa Club. The Eagles (3-1) posted a 6-1 win in the first dual of the day before sweeping the Bulldogs (1-3), 5-0, in the second half of the doubleheader. Coupled with a 6-1 win over Hillsdale College one day earlier, Jan. 27, the Eagles went 3-0 on the weekend by a combined 17-2 score.
 
Quoting Kucera
“I am so proud of the effort and relentlessness from this team today,” Head Coach Ryan Kucera said. “Relentless is a great word to describe a day with so many positives. Our doubles keep getting better. I threw a lot of pairs out there the last two days and every pair communicated well and found chemistry. We can still finish points better than we are right now, but I’m really pleased with the types of points we are getting into, and our execution will keep getting better.
 
“In singles, I really think we did a great job with our focus and our discipline,” Kucera continued. “Ferris State is a great team, and they are an experienced group of competitors. For us to defeat twice, we need a lot of discipline and mental fitness, just trusting our stuff over and over again and really being intentional about our execution over and over again. That is why we play doubleheaders early in the year. I’m just really pleased with how these ladies took what we learned from our first match and kept getting better as the weekend went on. I told them, it takes six (sets) to win a championship. We’re building that level of discipline and fearlessness to be able to bring it for six sets and will only continue to grow. I’m excited for where we are going to go this season and am looking forward to our next match.”
 
How It Happened • Dual #1
For the second dual in a row, the Eagles took an early 1-0 lead by securing the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The team of Linda Eloundou (Yaounde, Cameroon/Augustine Meyou/New Mexico Military Institute) and Andrea Quiroz (Lima, Peru/La Molina 1278/Alcorn State) got things started as they powered their way to a 6-0 sweep at No. 3 before the duo of Sabina Brichackova (Cheb, Czech Republic/Gymnázium Jana Blahoslava) and Ksyusha Saenko (Voronezh, Russia/Gymnasium 2 took the win at No. 1 with a 6-2 decision.
 
In singles action, Quiroz once again needed little time to claim the win as she scored a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles to stake the Eagles to a 2-0 lead. She was followed by Daniella Shved (Holon, Israel/Ort Holon) at No. 1 singles, who won her match, 6-2, 6-1. Eloundou then clinched the team win with her 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles with the EMU leading 4-0. The Eagles collected their final two points of the match with wins at No. 3 and No. 6 as Saenko won, 6-2, 6-2, and Regina Mendez (Los Cabos, Mexico/Picacho McGregor) taking a 6-3, 6-2 decision, respectively.
 
How It Happened • Dual #2
Playing to clinch in the second dual (first team to four points), the Eagles once again opened by securing the doubles point. The duo of Quiroz and Saenko combined to win, 6-0, at No. 2 doubles to get the ball rolling, but FSU evened the score with a 6-3 win at No. 3. The Eagles secured the doubles point with the win at No. 1 with Shved and Prerna Vichare (Mumbai, India/Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics) combining for a 6-3 win.
 
Heading into singles play, the Eagles needed three wins to clinch the match and got that in short order, led by Quiroz, who won at No. 4, 6-1, 6-1. Saenko followed at No. 3 with a 6-2, 6-1 win before Eloundou clinched the win with her 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 5. As Eloundou clinched, Vichare was one game from winning her match and was allowed to finish her No. 1 bout as she served out the final game to take a 6-4, 6-0 win. With the dual complete, both Shved at No. 2 and Vidisha Reddy (Hyderabad, India/Villa Marie/Edinboro) at No. 6 were leading their matches, but both stand as unfinished in the results.
 
Notes
›› Eastern improved to 3-1 on the year with the win while Ferris State fell to 1-3 following the doubleheader.
›› The Eagles moved to 5-0 all-time against the Bulldogs with all five wins coming in Ypsilanti.
›› The last time the Eagles swept a doubleheader came Feb. 26, 2021, with a pair of 6-1 wins at Oakland University.
›› The last time Eastern won two matches at home on the same day came April 1, 2022, with 4-3 wins over both Ball State University and Wayne State University.
›› Three Eagles went 2-0 on the day and 3-0 on the weekend, including Eloundou, Quiroz, and Saenko.
 
Up Next
The Eagles return to action next Sunday, Feb. 4, with a visit from Cleveland State University. The dual will be played at the Chippewa Club with the first serve set for 1 p.m.
 
Follow Along
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.
 
Dual #1
Eastern Michigan 6, Ferris State 1
Jan. 28 • Chippewa Club • Ypsilanti, Mich.
SINGLES
#1: Daniella Shved (E) def. Morgan Waller, 6-2, 6-1
#2: Andrea Quiroz (E) def. Aimee Reynoso Cupido, 6-2, 6-0
#3: Ksyusha Saenko (E) def. Parker Nolan, 6-2, 6-2
#4: Linda Eloundou (E) def. Ana Hernandez Ferrer, 6-3, 6-1
#5: Maria Hernandez Ferrer (F) def. Sabina Brichackova, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6
#6: Regina Mendez (E) def. Kennedy Dumas, 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5
 
DOUBLES
#1: Sabina Brichackova / Ksyusha Saenko (EM) def. Ana Hernandez Ferrer / Morgan Waller, 6-2
#2: Maria Hernandez Ferrer / Parker Nolan (FS) led Daniella Shved / Prerna Vichare, 4-3 unfinished
#3: Linda Eloundou / Andrea Quiroz (EM) def. Kennedy Dumas / Aimee Reynoso Cupido, 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1
 
Dual #2
Eastern Michigan 1, Ferris State 0
Jan. 28 • Chippewa Club • Ypsilanti, Mich.
SINGLES
#1: Prerna Vichare (E) def. Morgan Waller, 6-4, 6-0
#2: Daniella Shved (E) led Ana Hernandez Ferrer, 7-5, 2-1 unfinished
#3: Ksyusha Saenko (E) def. Maria Hernandez Ferrer, 6-2, 6-1
#4: Andrea Quiroz (E) def. Parker Nolan, 6-1, 6-1
#5: Linda Eloundou (E) def. Kennedy Dumas, 6-3, 6-2
#6: Vidisha Reddy (E) led Amelia Laverdiere, 6-4, 4-3 unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 3, 5, 1
 
DOUBLES
#1: Daniella Shved / Prerna Vichare (E) def. Ana Hernandez Ferrer / Morgan Waller, 6-3
#2: Andrea Quiroz / Ksyusha Saenko (E) def. Maria Hernandez Ferrer / Parker Nolan, 6-0
#3: Kennedy Dumas / Amelia Laverdiere (F) def. Linda Eloundou / Regina Mendez, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1