East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University (EMU) tennis team is set for a weekend of matches, starting with a home game against Saginaw Valley State University on Friday, March 14, at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. This match marks the end of their non-conference schedule. The Eagles will then travel to DeKalb, Illinois, to face Northern Illinois University (NIU) on Sunday, March 16, marking the start of their Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.

Eastern Michigan comes into these matches with a recent victory over Chicago State on March 8. They swept the visiting team 7-0 at home. Head Coach Ryan Kucera leads the Eagles in his second season and aims to guide them back to the MAC Tournament for consecutive years—a feat last achieved by EMU in 2014 and 2015.

Sabina Brichackova is nearing personal milestones as she approaches her place among EMU's all-time leaders in singles and doubles victories. She currently has 54 singles wins and needs three more to tie for 20th place in program history. In doubles play, Brichackova and her partner Prerna Vichare are also closing in on joining the top 20 list.

The team's first MAC match record stands at 26-15 historically; however, they have lost their last four openers. Their previous win came against Akron on March 23, 2018. The Eagles' upcoming opponent NIU holds a strong season record of 12-3 but lost their last match against Cornell after a six-match winning streak.

Saginaw Valley State enters with a single win from seven games this season after breaking a losing streak with a victory over Sioux Falls.

The EMU roster features ten players from nine different countries including Argentina, Czechia, India, Israel, Mexico, North Macedonia, Poland, Russia, and the United States.

After this weekend's matches against Saginaw Valley State and Northern Illinois University, Eastern Michigan will continue its conference schedule with two more MAC games next week: an away game against Western Michigan University followed by hosting Ball State University.