{"id":411398,"date":"2026-01-15T17:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/411398\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T17:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:43:12","slug":"tennis-opens-2026-slate-hosting-cleveland-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/411398\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis Opens 2026 Slate Hosting Cleveland State"},"content":{"rendered":"

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University tennis program is set to lift the lid on its 2026 spring slate this week as the Eagles will play host to Cleveland State University before playing a doubleheader at Ferris State University. The Eagles (0-0) and Vikings (0-0) are set to meet Saturday, Jan. 17, at 1 p.m. inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti to open the season before EMU travels to Big Rapids, Mich., and the FSU Racquet and Tennis Center on Monday, Jan. 19, for a doubleheader with the Bulldogs. The matches with FSU are slated to start at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
\n\u00a0
\nFIRST SERVES
\n\u00bb The MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 8 with the Eagles voted to finish eighth in the regular season standings. When looking at the rankings, Eastern will play host to three of the top four teams this year, including No. 1 Toledo (March 22), No. 2 Buffalo (March 27), and No. 4 NIU (March 13).
\n\u00bb Eastern is 24-24 all-time in its first match of the season after defeating Ferris State, 7-0, last year (Jan. 18). The Eagles also are 13-2 when their season-opener is played at home despite only starting the year on home soil four times in the previous 15 years.
\n\u00bb The Eagles are 31-17 all-time in their home opener and have won four consecutive lid-lifters overall. Additionally, Eastern is 15-33 in its first road match of the season with losses in its last four outings.
\n\u00bb The matches at Ferris State will be the first two of six matches slated against fellow Michigan schools in 2026 as Eastern also will face Oakland, Michigan, Wayne State, and Western Michigan. All time, the Eagles are 103-114 against Michigan teams with a 39-23 record in matches ending in a sweep.
\n\u00bb In the two previous seasons under Ryan Kucera<\/a>, the Eagles have posted a 21-2 record at home, including an 11-0 mark in his debut season (2024) and a 10-2 mark last year. In the six seasons played ahead of Kucera’s arrival, the Eagles were 21-30 at home.
\n\u00bb Eastern has been strong in doubles play under Ryan Kucera<\/a> as they have won 60.0 percent (27-of-45) 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.
\n\u00bb 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<\/a>, Lara Diaz Zayas<\/a>, Regina Mendez Carre\u00f1o, and Kseniia Saenko<\/a>, and four newcomers in Pehal Kharadkar<\/a>, Matilde Parreira<\/a>, Sabrina Tolstova<\/a>, and Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya<\/a>.
\n\u00bb 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.
\n\u00bb The Eagles are experiencing a youth movement as the eight-player roster includes four freshmen, two sophomores, one junior, and one senior.
\n\u00bb Ryan Kucera<\/a> 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.
\n\u00a0
\nPRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
\nThe 2026 MAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll was released Jan. 8 with the Eagles voted to finish eighth with 18 points. Toledo (58 points), Buffalo (53), UMass (47), and Northern Illinois (44) were the top four selected with Ball State (40), Miami (35), Western Michigan (21), and Bowling Green (eight) rounding out the standings. The top four teams at the end of the season will compete in the 2026 MAC Tournament in Oxford, Ohio (April 25-26). In that event, the coaches predict Toledo will capture the crown (five votes) with Buffalo (three) and UMass (one) also receiving votes.
\n\u00a0
\nLIFTING LIDS \u2022 SEASON-OPENING DUAL
\nThe Eagles are 24-24 all-time in their first match of the season and leveled their record with last year’s 7-0 sweep of Ferris State (Jan. 18) in the first match of a doubleheader. The win also snapped a three-match losing skid in season-opening matches. Additionally, Eastern, who has only played its season-opener at home four times in the previous 15 years, stands 13-2 when their season-opener is at home with the last loss coming Jan. 14, 2012, in a 5-2 decision to visiting Marshall. Overall, the match with Cleveland State will mark the third time the two sides have met in the first match of the year but will be the first in Ypsilanti after the teams played in Cleveland in both 2021 (W, 4-3) and 2023 (L, 4-3).
\n\u00a0
\nLIFTING LIDS \u2022 HOME OPENER
\nHistorically, Eastern holds a 31-17 record in its home-opening match and has won four in a row, including a 7-0 sweep of Ferris State last year (Jan. 18, 2025). The last time the Eagles dropped their home opener was March 12, 2021, in a 6-1 setback to Ball State. With a win over the Vikings, the Eagles would collect their first consecutive home-opening win, which would stand as the second-longest streak in program history after the Eagles won eight consecutive from 1990-97.
\n\u00a0
\nHOME PROTECTION
\nSince taking over the program ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Eagles hold a 21-2 record at home under Ryan Kucera<\/a>, a mark that included the Eagles going a perfect 11-0 at home in 2024 and 10-2 last year. 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 most (11) and second-most (10) in single-season history for the program.
\n\u00a0
\nHOME STREAKS
\nEastern enters the season winners of two consecutive home matches after taking 5-2 decisions from both Northern Illinois (April 11) and Bowling Green (April 13) to close the 2025 season. Under Ryan Kucera<\/a>, the Eagles opened with 13 consecutive home wins before a 5-2 setback to Oakland (Feb. 1, 2025) snapped the streak. A 4-3 loss to Miami (March 30, 2025) snapped a run of seven consecutive home wins against MAC foes under Kucera as well.
\n\u00a0
\nLIFTING LIDS \u2022 HITTING THE ROAD
\nEMU is 15-33 all-time in its first road match of the season with 27-of-48 matches (3-24) coming against Power Four schools, including a 4-1 loss at Cincinnati (Big 12), Jan. 25, 2025. Looking to snap its four-match losing streak in its road opener, Eastern was last victorious Jan. 30, 2021, in a 4-3 win at Cleveland State. The win over the Vikings snapped a string of five consecutive road-opening losses.
\n\u00a0
\nSTARTING STRONG
\nIn the 15 matches the Eagles played during the 2022-23 season, the team captured the doubles point just four times (26.7 percent). Since taking over the program ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Eagles have shown great growth in doubles play as the team has captured the doubles point in 27-of-46 matches under Ryan Kucera<\/a>, a 58.7 percent win rate. After the 2023-24 team won 13-of-23 points (.565), the 2024-25 squad captured 14-of-23 (.609) to continue the increased success.
\n\u00a0
\nKNOW THE FOE: CLEVELAND STATE
\nThe Vikings enter the 2026 season with a similar roster to the Eagles with one senior and four freshmen. Last year, Cleveland State posted a 13-10 overall record and a 6-0 mark in Horizon League play to capture the regular season title and earn the No. 1 seed in the tournament. CSU, who reached the final of the league tournament where it dropped a 4-1 decision to Youngstown State, was selected fourth in the 2026 Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll.
\n\u00a0
\nWELCOME BACK!
\nAlthough sporting a young roster, one Viking is quite familiar with Eastern Michigan as 14th-year head coach Frank Polito is set to bring his squad to town. Polito was a four-year letterwinner and 1990 Eastern Michigan graduate before serving as the head coach of the EMU men’s program from 1990-95.
\n\u00a0
\nIN THE SERIES: CLEVELAND STATE
\nThe Eagles and Vikings are meeting for the ninth time with Eastern holding a 5-2 advantage in the series (the result\/score for the match in 1993 is unavailable currently). Eastern leads, 2-1, when playing host to the Vikings and won the last meeting in Ypsilanti, 6-1, Feb. 4, 2024, to take the lead. The series has been closely contested as five of the seven known scores have ended in one-point decisions (4-3).
\n\u00a0
\nTHE LAST TIME VS. THE VIKINGS
\nEastern hit the road, Feb. 14, 2025, and claimed a 4-3 win at Cleveland State in the teams’ last meeting. After taking the doubles point for a 1-0 lead, the Eagles would win the first three singles matches of the day to build a 4-0 lead and claim the victory. The Vikings won the remaining three singles matches to bring about the 4-3 final.
\n\u00a0
\nKNOW THE FOE: FERRIS STATE
\nThe Bulldogs, who are 1-0 after defeating Grace (Ind.), 6-1, in an October dual, posted a 12-9 overall record last year and finished 6-2 in GLIAC play before falling in the semifinals of the GLIAC Tournament, 4-0, to Grand Valley State. FSU advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament but fell in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional in a 4-1 setback to Tiffin. Senior Maria Fernanda Hernandez Ferrer is 5-1 on the year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional in October while freshman Madeline Peisley also stands 5-1 after advancing to the Round of 16 in the same event.
\n\u00a0
\nIN THE SERIES: FERRIS STATE
\nThe Eagles and Bulldogs will meet for the eighth and ninth times with Eastern holding a 7-0 record all-time, including a sweep of a home doubleheader last year, Jan. 18, 2025, with scores of 7-0 and 4-0. Eastern, who first played Ferris State in 1976 (W, 9-0), has swept the Bulldogs in 5-of-7 matches. The matches will mark the third consecutive season the teams have played a doubleheader with the Eagles winning, 6-1 and 5-0, in the 2024 matches (Jan. 28).
\n\u00a0
\nTHE LAST TIME VS. THE BULLDOGS
\nEastern and Ferris State played a season-opening doubleheader, Jan. 18, 2025, in Ypsilanti with the Eagles claiming wins of 7-0 and 4-0 inside the Chippewa Club. In the opening match, EMU won in straight sets in all six singles matches with returning players Lara Diaz Zayas<\/a> winning at No. 5 and Regina Mendez Carre\u00f1o winning at No. 6. In the second match, Diaz Zayas clinched the team victory with her straight-set victory at No. 5 to get the Eagles off to a 2-0 start on the season.
\n\u00a0
\nMITTEN MATCHES
\nDuring the 2026 season, the Eagles are set to play six matches against fellow Michigan schools with three each at home and away, starting with the doubleheader at Ferris State (Jan. 19). Eastern, who is 103-114 all-time against in-state schools, will also play Oakland (Jan. 31 at home), Michigan State (Feb. 1 away), Wayne State (Feb. 22 at home), and Western Michigan on Senior Day (April 19 at home). Last year, the Eagles entered the season with 99 all-time wins against Michiganders and grabbed their 100th victory with a 7-0 defeat of Ferris State in the first match of the season-opening doubleheader at home. All told, Eastern is 39-23 in matches ending in a sweep and 18-22 when the match is decided by one point.
\n\u00a0
\nDOUBLE THE FUN
\nEastern has played 57 same-day doubleheaders in its history, sweeping both matches 27 times, splitting 27 times, and being swept just three times. Holding an all-time record of 80-34 in doubleheader matches, Eastern is 25-22 when those matches are played on the road. All told, the Eagles are 37-20 in the opening match of the double dip and 43-14 in the second match played.
\n\u00a0
\nRARE ROAD DOUBLE
\nOf the previous 57 doubleheaders, 13 have been played with both matches taking place on the road (no neutral site matches) with the Eagles splitting the two matches seven times and being involved in a sweep in six (5-1 record). Of those 13 road doubles, only once has EMU played the same opponent in both matches as Eastern and Oakland met for two in Rochester Hills, Feb. 26, 2021, with the Eagles winning both by 6-1 scores.
\n\u00a0
\nLAST TIME OUT: DRAKE INVITE
\nThe last time the Eagles played was Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at the Drake Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa, the fifth and final event of their fall slate. Eastern, who took on players from Drake, Iowa State, Omaha, North Dakota and Northern Iowa inside the Roger Knapp Tennis Center, saw freshman Pehal Kharadkar<\/a> lead the way with a perfect 4-0 record in singles while Lara Diaz Zayas<\/a> was also perfect as she finished 3-0 against her competitors. The singles wins were the first of the season for Diaz Zayas.
\n\u00a0
\nON THE HORIZON
\nThe Eagles return to action next weekend for a pair of road matches, starting Jan. 23 in an 11 a.m. contest in Youngstown, Ohio, against the Penguins of Youngstown State. The road trip concludes Jan. 25 with a 12 p.m. match in Loretto, Pa., with the Red Flashes of St. Francis.
\n\u00a0
\nFOLLOW US
\nFor 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University tennis program is set to lift the lid on its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-411398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}