Women's Tennis

Eagles Polish Off Comeback 4-3 Victory at Bradley

Friday Women’s Tennis results
Purdue 7, Ball State 0
Eastern Michigan 4, Bradley 3
Youngstown State 4, Bowling Green 3
Michigan State 4, Toledo 3
 

Recaps courtesy of Eastern Michigan's Athletic Communications Department

Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University tennis team rallied from a 3-1 deficit with three consecutive three-set wins to secure a hard-fought 4-3 victory over visiting Bradley University, Feb. 20, inside the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti. The Eagles (9-3) picked up the deciding point at No. 5 singles as freshman Matilde Parreira rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the third set to secure a 6-4 win and push her team across the finish line against the Braves (3-5).
 
"Wow, that was an excellent win!" Head Coach Ryan Kucera said following the nearly four-hour match. "We had to dig our deepest. We weren't ourselves as a whole in the doubles point and were not as aggressive with our execution as we needed to be. I am proud of Ksush (Saenko) for stepping in after a long time off and getting it done at one (doubles). We knew being down the doubles point would take everybody to really fight and be their most disciplined. We got a lot of heart from all the ladies today. To win three straight three-setters after going down 3-1 shows how this team plays together and fights for one another. I am proud of Matilde (Parreira)! She never gave in and never stopped competing even when she was down in the third set. It was so fun to see them do it together. We are so excited to keep the momentum going and keep pushing ourselves forward!"
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eastern found itself in a 1-0 hole as Bradley secured the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. The Eagles won the first of the three doubles matches with a 6-1 win at No. 1 as Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya joined with Kseniia Saenko for the win. The match marked a return to the court for Saenko, who had not played since the 2024-25 season.
 
When singles play began, the Eagles quickly tied the match at 1-1 as Pehal Kharadkar sprinted out to a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4. The visitors, however, won the next two matches with victories at No. 3 and No. 2 to take a 3-1 lead. Eastern then began a streak of three consecutive three set wins that put them on top at the end. First, Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya rallied to win her match at No. 1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to cut the deficit to one (3-2) before Regina Mendez Carreño tied the team score with her 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 win at No. 6.
 
The deciding match came down to an evenly-paired contest at No. 5 where Parreira dropped the first set, 5-7. She rebounded to score a 6-4 win in the second to send the match to a deciding third set. In the final set, the two players went back and forth before Bradley's Compassion Tsai took a 4-3 lead. Parreira made it 4-4 on serve and then broke Tsai for a 5-4 lead before serving out the victory, 6-4.
 
NOTING THE TEAM
» With the win, the Eagles improved to 9-3 while the Braves fell to 3-5.
» The victory kept the Eagles at fourth on the program's best start list as their nine wins in 2026 sit behind the 2002-03 squad's 11 wins and the 10 victories secured by the 1982-83 and 1983-84 teams.
» Eastern improved to 6-1 all-time against Bradley and 2-0 when hosting the Braves in Ypsilanti. The win was the first for EMU over BU in exactly 32 years after Eastern scored an 8-1 victory, Feb. 20, 1994, in Peoria, Ill. The two teams met more recently (Feb. 13, 2021) with the Braves winning at home, 4-1.
» The Eagles improved to 116-100 all-time when the match was decided by one point and 4-0 in such matches in 2026. Eastern is 2-0 at home in 4-3 scores after defeating visiting Oakland, Jan. 31. Additionally, EMU is 37-36 in one-score matches at home all-time.
» Eastern improved to 24-2 in home matches under Ryan Kucera, including 3-0 this year. The Eagles were 11-0 in 2024 and 10-2 last year, which stand as the best two home win totals in program history.
» The win over Bradley marked the fifth time under Ryan Kucera that Eastern won a dual despite dropping the doubles point and the fourth time it has happened at home. The last time EMU won a dual without securing the doubles point was April 18, 2025, at Ball State in a 4-3 win in the season finale. Last year, the Eagles accomplished the feat at home twice, including a 4-2 win over Findlay (Feb. 22, 2025) and a 4-3 victory over BSU (March 23, 2025). The first win came March 9, 2024, in a 6-1 defeat of Findlay.
 
NOTING THE PLAYERS
» Matilde Parreira secured her team-best 13th singles win and moved to 7-1 (two abandoned matches) in singles play this spring. Additionally, her win against Bradley marked the second time this year she had lost the first set only to come back and sweep sets two and three for the win. The first instance came Oct. 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional tournament when she defeated Sienna Osborne of Western Michigan, 2-6, 6-3, 10-6, in the consolation rounds of the qualifier bracket.
» The win for Matilde Parreira at No. 5 marked her third team-victory clinching match of the season and her second at the No. 5 position. She is tied with Pehal Kharadkar for the team lead in clinching wins.
» Pehal Kharadkar secured her 11th singles win of the season and snapped a five-match losing streak in the process. Additionally, she posted her fourth win of the season in which she surrendered no more than four games.
» Cylova Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya also won her 11th singles match to tie with Pehal Kharadkar for second on the team. Zuleyka Hukmasabiyya secured her first three-set victory as a collegiate player (1-2 on the year) and is 3-3 at the No. 1 position this spring.
» Regina Mendez Carreño captured a three-set win at No. 6 to record the 30th win of her career. A winner of three consecutive matches, Mendez Carreño is 6-3 in singles play this spring.
 
Up Next
Eastern will travel to the Sunshine State for its next two matches as part of its Spring Break trip with the Eagles set to face Stetson University and the University of North Florida. The Eagles and Hatters will meet in DeLand, Fla., March 2, for a 10 a.m. contest before the Eagles and Ospreys square off at 10 a.m. in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 4. The two matches are the final non-conference duals of the regular season for the Eagles as they will embark on Mid-American Conference play March 13.