The Eastern Michigan University women’s tennis team started their regular season on the right foot, taking down the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers in a 7-0 shutout Friday. The meet took place inside the Nebraska Tennis Center in Lincoln, Neb.
All matches were won in two straight sets.
Junior Nino Mebuke started things off by beating UNK’s Vanessa Gunawan (6-3, 6-1), followed by freshman Klara Supejova’s defeat of Kristin Weems (6-0, 6-1).
Daphne Friedrichs, Mariya Toncheva and Zsofia Biro all won their sets over Heather Connolly (6-1, 6-2), Britni Norfolk (6-3, 6-0) and Kelly Messbarger (6-0, 6-1), respectively.
Freshman Silvia Martinkova wrapped things up with the singles, routing Stephanie Irvin with 6-1 and 6-2 sets.
In doubles, Mebuke and Supejova took care of Gunawan and Connolly (8-2), while Friedrichs and Toncheva teamed up to take down Norfolk and Dominique Kropp (8-4). Biro and sophomore Ankita Bhatia finished off the day beating Weems and Messbarger (8-2).
On Saturday, the Eagles stayed in Lincoln for their second matchup against the 17th-ranked University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Eagles dropped to a 1-1 record after being shut out by the Cornhuskers.
Biro started things off with a loss to Maggy Lehmicke in straight sets (6-1 and 6-0). Things did not get much better as Supejova and Mebuke both lost in straight sets to Mary Weatherholt (6-2, 6-1) and Patricia Veresova (6-2, 6-2), respectively.
Friedrichs, Toncheva and Bhatia all took losses to Stefanie Weinstein (6-2, 6-2), Janine Weinreich (6-2, 6-4) and Izabella Zgierska (6-0, 7-5).
In the doubles competitions, Weatherholt and Veresova beat the duo of Mebuke and Supejova with an 8-3 set, and Weinstein and Weinreich beat Friedrichs and Toncheva in an 8-2 set. The day ended with Biro and Bhatia falling to Lehmicke and Zgierska with a 6-4 set.
The Eagles will hit the road again Jan. 18 when they square off against the Marshall Thundering Herd on their home court in Huntington, W.Va.
