Eagles Grab 6-1 Win over Cleveland State – Eastern Michigan University Athletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University tennis team battled to its fourth victory in a row as the Eagles secured a 6-1 win over visiting Cleveland State University Sunday, Feb. 4, inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. The Eagles (4-1) scrapped for every point to capture the win and snap the Vikings’ (3-2) two-match winning streak against EMU in the process.
 
Quoting Kucera
“It was a great team win today,” Head Coach Ryan Kucera said. “We knew it would take great effort, focus, and perseverance and that is what we brought. It started in doubles with being aggressive and executing well and that was huge for us. Dani (Daniella) and Prerna battled, stayed calm under pressure, and really executed in the main moments to clinch the doubles point and I am very proud of them.
 
“We knew Cleveland State would be a tough team and they are favored in the Horizon League for a reason,” Kucera continued. “They brought it right away, but, once we got settled, we kept responding. I thought our discipline on the big points was huge. You could go across the board and list positives for everyone that played today, but I thought Daniella and Linda played very disciplined and were able to get those big set wins and our birthday kid, Ksyusha, was able to clinch on her birthday by continuing to fight back and pick up big points. Everybody is fighting the way we need to fight and responding the way we need to respond. Andrea and Sabina were able to finish it off strong with their performances. Overall, we can still play better than we did and that is great. I am looking forward to building off this and continuing to grow as a program.”
 
How It Happened
For the fourth dual in a row, the Eagles got off to a 1-0 start in the team scoring as they battled hard to claim the doubles point once again. The duo of Linda Eloundou (Yaounde, Cameroon/Augustine Meyou/New Mexico Military Institute) and Andrea Quiroz (Lima, Peru/La Molina 1278/Alcorn State) made quick work of their match by taking the No. 3 doubles match, 6-0. The Vikings responded by winning the No. 1 doubles match, 6-2, making the No. 2 match the decider. In the match, Daniella Shved (Holon, Israel/Ort Holon) and Prerna Vichare (Mumbai, India/Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics) rallied from down 5-4, to win three games in a row for a 7-5 decision that secured the doubles point for EMU.
 
With the doubles point secured, the Eagles turned their attention to singles play where the Vikings struck first with a win at No. 1 singles. Despite the team score being tied at 1-1, the Eagles played determined throughout and won the final five singles matches to take the dual. Shved got things going as she took a 6-4, 6-3 decision at No. 2 before Eloundou tallied an identical score to win at No. 5. Leading, 3-1, Ksyusha Saenko (Voronezh, Russia/Gymnasium 2) put an exclamation point on her birthday as she fought her way to a 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 4 to clinch to dual for the Eagles. The final two matches needed a third set to determine the winner with the Eagles prevailing in both. First, Quiroz captured the win at No. 3 with a 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-5 win. That was followed by Sabina Brichackova (Cheb, Czech Republic/Gymnázium Jana Blahoslava) taking the win at No. 6, 6-0, 1-6, 7-5.
 
Notes
›› Eastern improved to 4-1 on the year while the Vikings fell to 3-2.
›› EMU is now 4-2 all-time against CSU and snapped the Vikings’ two-match winning streak after CSU took the last two meeting by identical 4-3 scores. The Eagles are 2-1 at home against the Vikings in the all-time series.
›› The Eagles have won four duals in a row with all four coming at home. The last time Eastern won four in a row was 2022 with two road matches and two home matches. The last time the Eagles won four home duals in a row was 2018 with wins over visiting Grand Valley State, Oakland, Detroit Mercy, and Akron.
›› The win over Cleveland State marks the first win over an NCAA Division I team for Head Coach Ryan Kucera as the leader of the EMU program and also is his first victory over the Vikings after his Milwaukee team lost in the Horizon League last year.
›› After earning the doubles point just four times last year, the Eagles have captured the doubles point in four consecutive duals this season. EMU dropped the point to Northwestern in the opener before claiming the point against Hillsdale, twice in a doubleheader with Ferris State, and against Cleveland State.
›› Quiroz is 4-0 in doubles duals matches this year (one unfinished) with all four wins coming in 6-0 sweeps. She has combined for wins with Eloundou twice – including today – and once each with Vichare and Saenko.
›› During the fall, Eagle and Viking individuals and doubles pairs met up in a pair of events, including CSU’s Viking Invitational (Oct. 20-21) and the Bronco Super Challenge (Nov. 10-11) at Western Michigan. During those matches, the Vikings won 8-of-10 singles matches with the two sides splitting four doubles meetings.
 
Up Next
Two intrastate duals await the Eagles next weekend with one each at home and on the road. The weekend opens Saturday, Feb. 10, with Eastern playing host to Oakland University at 1 p.m. inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. Then, the Eagles will travel east to East Lansing, Mich., for a Sunday dual with the Spartans of Michigan State University at 4 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.
 
Eastern Michigan 6, Cleveland State 1
Feb. 4 • Chippewa Club • Ypsilanti, Mich.
SINGLES
#1: Oihane Vicario (CS) def. Prerna Vichare, 6-2, 6-4
#2: Daniella Shved (EM) def. Sima Heren, 6-4, 6-3
#3: Andrea Quiroz (EM) def. Bethany Yauch, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-5
#4: Ksyusha Saenko (EM) def. Tereze Vevere, 6-4, 7-5
#5: Linda Eloundou (EM) def. Selma Tounsi, 6-4, 6-3
#6: Sabina Brichackova (EM) def. Filippa Frogner, 6-0, 1-6, 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 4, 3, 6
 
DOUBLES
#1: Sima Heren / Bethany Yauch (CS) def. Sabina Brichackova / Ksyusha Saenko, 6-2
#2: Daniella Shved / Prerna Vichare (EM) def. Filippa Frogner / Selma Tounsi, 7-5
#3: Linda Eloundou / Andrea Quiroz (EM) def. Ella Franz / Tereze Vevere, 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2