ANN ARBOR, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University tennis program is set to open its 2025 spring slate this weekend as four members of the team will take part in the 2025 Michigan Invitational, Jan. 10-12, inside the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. The four Eagles will play three singles and three doubles matches against competitors from the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, and Texas Tech University.
EVENT INFO: THE BASICS
The Michigan Invitational will see full teams from Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas Tech with individuals from both Eastern and Michigan State rounding out the fourth “team” in the hidden dual event. Each group will play one singles and one doubles match each of three days with all action starting at 10 a.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
The tournament will be streamed live via PlaySight.com with live results being provided through MGoBlue.com. Live video can be viewed here at https://web.playsight.com/facility/university-of-michigan-tennis/home while live results can be found at https://mgoblue.com/tennis-tournament.
EVENT INFO: THE EAGLES
The Eagles will be represented at the Michigan Invitational by four players, including Iva Daneva, Viki Hazmukova, Marta Komar, and Daniella Shved.
HIGH REGARD
The Michigan Invitational will feature two teams appearing in the Jan. 6 release of the ITA National Rankings, including No. 8 Michigan and No. 15 Ohio State. According to the Dec. 3 individual rankings, six singles players and seven doubles teams could compete in the event as well. The players ranked in singles including Michigan’s No. 5 Julia Fliegner, No. 18 Piper Charney, and No. 4 Lily Jones and Ohio State’s No. 8 Luciana Perry, No. 46 Audrey Spencer, and No. 84 Sydni Ratliff. The ranked doubles pairings include four from Texas Tech, including No. 15 Mariia Hlahola/Avelina Sayfetdinova, No. 33 Andreea Lila/Jermine Sherif, No. 57 Mariia Hlahola/Hailey Murphy, and No. 68 Yekaterina Dmitrichenko/Andreea Lila while Michigan features the duos of No. 18 Jessica Bernales/Lily Jones, No. 49 Julia Fliegner/Reese Miller, and No. 61 Piper Charney/Emily Sartz-Lunde.
FIRST SERVES
» The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles voted to finish third with 35 points while Miami (48) and Toledo (38) were ranked ahead of EMU. Eastern was voted to finish fourth one year ago and did so to earn its first MAC Tournament appearance since 2018.
» The 2025 spring season will feature 23 duals with 12 coming at home at the Chippewa Club. Eastern was a perfect 11-0 at home in 2024.
» The Eagles’ 2024-25 roster features 10 players, including six returnees and four newcomers. In total, nine different nations are represented on the roster, including the U.S., Argentina, Czechia, India, Israel, Mexico, North Macedonia, Poland, and Russia.
» Ryan Kucera returns for his second season as the team’s head coach and will look to guide the team to the MAC Tournament for the second year in a row, which would mark the first time it has happened since the 2014 and 2015 tournaments.
» Players are not the only addition to the roster this year as the coaching staff has added both Masha Polishchuk and Andrew Dobbs. Polishchuk, a MAC champion during her playing career at Ball State, will serve as a graduate assistant coach while Dobbs will serve as an undergraduate assistant.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles earning 35 points to rank third on the list behind Miami (48 points) and Toledo (38). The remaining rankings, which are based upon votes from the league’s coaches, were Northern Illinois (30) in fourth, Ball State (35) fifth, Buffalo (23) sixth, Western Michigan (14) seventh, and Bowling Green (seven) eighth. Additionally, the coaches cast votes on who would win the MAC Tournament, which is slated for April 24-25 in Toledo, Ohio, with Miami earning five votes while EMU, Buffalo, and Toledo each earned one. In Ryan Kucera‘s first season with the Eagles (2023-24), Eastern was voted tied for fourth in the preseason before finishing fourth and earning a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. EMU dropped a 4-3 decision to host Toledo in the semifinals.
LOOKING TO REPEAT
Last year, the Eagles finished fourth in the conference standings to earn the fourth and final position in the MAC Tournament, the team’s first appearance in the conference event since the 2018 championships. Should Eastern return to the tournament this year, it would mark the first time the Eagles have qualified for the MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons since earning berths in the 2014 and 2015 events. Eastern lost to Miami, 4-2, in the final of the 2014 event before falling to the RedHawks, 4-1, in the semifinals one year later.
ENDING A DROUGHT?
The goal every year is to win the MAC Tournament and earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Eagles were able to do so came in 2001 when they swept through the MAC Tournament hosted by Marshall with wins over Ball State (4-1), Western Michigan (4-2), and the host Thundering Herd (4-3). EMU advanced to the NCAA First Round where they fell at No. 8 Notre Dame, 0-4.
MITTEN MATCHES
Eastern will play six matches in 2025 against fellow Michigan schools with four being played at home and two on the road. The Eagles, who enter the season with 98 wins all-time against fellow Michiganders, will open the year with a doubleheader against Ferris State, who EMU is 5-0 against. The Eagles will also play Oakland (17-2 all-time) at home, Feb. 1, before traveling to Michigan State (6-41), Feb. 2. The final two matches are MAC matches with Western Michigan (15-43), including on the road, March 21, and at home, March 28.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Sabina Brichackova captured two wins at the MAC Fall Individuals in Hamilton, Ohio, Oct. 24-27, to record the 99th and 100th combined wins of her career. The senior is the first to reach 100 wins in a career since the 2017-18 season when both Ani Gogvadze (117) and Andrea Matrinovska (111) capped their careers in Ypsilanti.
UP THE LADDER
Sabina Brichackova and doubles partner Prerna Vichare reached the finals at the MAC Fall Individuals, Oct. 24-27, and finished as the runners-up in the inaugural event. With the two wins they collected, each moved closer to the all-time top 20 in doubles wins as they have 49 and 48, respectively. Currently, Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) are tied for 19th with 56 wins, meaning Brichackova and Vichare are seven and eight wins, respectively, from joining the all-time top 20.
ON THE HORIZON
Eastern will open its 2025 dual schedule with a home doubleheader, Jan. 18, inside the Chippewa Club against Ferris State University. The Eagles and Bulldogs will play their first of two matches at 3:30 p.m. with the second to follow at approximately 7 p.m.
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.
EVENT INFO: THE BASICS
The Michigan Invitational will see full teams from Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas Tech with individuals from both Eastern and Michigan State rounding out the fourth “team” in the hidden dual event. Each group will play one singles and one doubles match each of three days with all action starting at 10 a.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
The tournament will be streamed live via PlaySight.com with live results being provided through MGoBlue.com. Live video can be viewed here at https://web.playsight.com/facility/university-of-michigan-tennis/home while live results can be found at https://mgoblue.com/tennis-tournament.
EVENT INFO: THE EAGLES
The Eagles will be represented at the Michigan Invitational by four players, including Iva Daneva, Viki Hazmukova, Marta Komar, and Daniella Shved.
HIGH REGARD
The Michigan Invitational will feature two teams appearing in the Jan. 6 release of the ITA National Rankings, including No. 8 Michigan and No. 15 Ohio State. According to the Dec. 3 individual rankings, six singles players and seven doubles teams could compete in the event as well. The players ranked in singles including Michigan’s No. 5 Julia Fliegner, No. 18 Piper Charney, and No. 4 Lily Jones and Ohio State’s No. 8 Luciana Perry, No. 46 Audrey Spencer, and No. 84 Sydni Ratliff. The ranked doubles pairings include four from Texas Tech, including No. 15 Mariia Hlahola/Avelina Sayfetdinova, No. 33 Andreea Lila/Jermine Sherif, No. 57 Mariia Hlahola/Hailey Murphy, and No. 68 Yekaterina Dmitrichenko/Andreea Lila while Michigan features the duos of No. 18 Jessica Bernales/Lily Jones, No. 49 Julia Fliegner/Reese Miller, and No. 61 Piper Charney/Emily Sartz-Lunde.
FIRST SERVES
» The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles voted to finish third with 35 points while Miami (48) and Toledo (38) were ranked ahead of EMU. Eastern was voted to finish fourth one year ago and did so to earn its first MAC Tournament appearance since 2018.
» The 2025 spring season will feature 23 duals with 12 coming at home at the Chippewa Club. Eastern was a perfect 11-0 at home in 2024.
» The Eagles’ 2024-25 roster features 10 players, including six returnees and four newcomers. In total, nine different nations are represented on the roster, including the U.S., Argentina, Czechia, India, Israel, Mexico, North Macedonia, Poland, and Russia.
» Ryan Kucera returns for his second season as the team’s head coach and will look to guide the team to the MAC Tournament for the second year in a row, which would mark the first time it has happened since the 2014 and 2015 tournaments.
» Players are not the only addition to the roster this year as the coaching staff has added both Masha Polishchuk and Andrew Dobbs. Polishchuk, a MAC champion during her playing career at Ball State, will serve as a graduate assistant coach while Dobbs will serve as an undergraduate assistant.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released Jan. 7 with the Eagles earning 35 points to rank third on the list behind Miami (48 points) and Toledo (38). The remaining rankings, which are based upon votes from the league’s coaches, were Northern Illinois (30) in fourth, Ball State (35) fifth, Buffalo (23) sixth, Western Michigan (14) seventh, and Bowling Green (seven) eighth. Additionally, the coaches cast votes on who would win the MAC Tournament, which is slated for April 24-25 in Toledo, Ohio, with Miami earning five votes while EMU, Buffalo, and Toledo each earned one. In Ryan Kucera‘s first season with the Eagles (2023-24), Eastern was voted tied for fourth in the preseason before finishing fourth and earning a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. EMU dropped a 4-3 decision to host Toledo in the semifinals.
LOOKING TO REPEAT
Last year, the Eagles finished fourth in the conference standings to earn the fourth and final position in the MAC Tournament, the team’s first appearance in the conference event since the 2018 championships. Should Eastern return to the tournament this year, it would mark the first time the Eagles have qualified for the MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons since earning berths in the 2014 and 2015 events. Eastern lost to Miami, 4-2, in the final of the 2014 event before falling to the RedHawks, 4-1, in the semifinals one year later.
ENDING A DROUGHT?
The goal every year is to win the MAC Tournament and earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Eagles were able to do so came in 2001 when they swept through the MAC Tournament hosted by Marshall with wins over Ball State (4-1), Western Michigan (4-2), and the host Thundering Herd (4-3). EMU advanced to the NCAA First Round where they fell at No. 8 Notre Dame, 0-4.
MITTEN MATCHES
Eastern will play six matches in 2025 against fellow Michigan schools with four being played at home and two on the road. The Eagles, who enter the season with 98 wins all-time against fellow Michiganders, will open the year with a doubleheader against Ferris State, who EMU is 5-0 against. The Eagles will also play Oakland (17-2 all-time) at home, Feb. 1, before traveling to Michigan State (6-41), Feb. 2. The final two matches are MAC matches with Western Michigan (15-43), including on the road, March 21, and at home, March 28.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Sabina Brichackova captured two wins at the MAC Fall Individuals in Hamilton, Ohio, Oct. 24-27, to record the 99th and 100th combined wins of her career. The senior is the first to reach 100 wins in a career since the 2017-18 season when both Ani Gogvadze (117) and Andrea Matrinovska (111) capped their careers in Ypsilanti.
UP THE LADDER
Sabina Brichackova and doubles partner Prerna Vichare reached the finals at the MAC Fall Individuals, Oct. 24-27, and finished as the runners-up in the inaugural event. With the two wins they collected, each moved closer to the all-time top 20 in doubles wins as they have 49 and 48, respectively. Currently, Miriam Westerink (2008-12) and Avi Gogvadze (2014-18) are tied for 19th with 56 wins, meaning Brichackova and Vichare are seven and eight wins, respectively, from joining the all-time top 20.
ON THE HORIZON
Eastern will open its 2025 dual schedule with a home doubleheader, Jan. 18, inside the Chippewa Club against Ferris State University. The Eagles and Bulldogs will play their first of two matches at 3:30 p.m. with the second to follow at approximately 7 p.m.
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.
