The Eastern Michigan’s women’s tennis team is set to begin their 2020 schedule as they face Michigan State on the road on Thursday, Jan. 23. The Eagles were selected to finish in eighth place according to the MAC preseason poll. Buffalo, who totaled 77 points, was selected to win the conference. Miami (OH) was picked to finish in second place.
The Eagles roster consists of seven athletes, including two seniors, two sophomores, two freshmen and one junior. Essence Eaton and Marie Mayerova are the two seniors. Eaton is out of Southfield and will look to cap off her college career with a successful senior season. Mayerova, who is from the Czech Republic, will try to do the same.
Vasavi Ganesan is the lone junior on the team but she is joined by redshirt sophomore Natalia Regalado, who comes from Spain. The other EMU sophomore is Julia Piatek, out of Poland. The roster is rounded out by a pair of freshman named Emma-Lou Pommiers and Isabelle Popma. They are from France and the Netherlands, respectively.
Jayson Wiseman will lead the team as the head coach after he was rehired on Nov. 29, 2018. In his only season coaching at EMU, Wiseman led the team to a 16-10 record and fifth place in the MAC. The Eagles will try to regain that momentum after having the tennis program suspended in 2018.
EMU will begin the season versus Michigan State on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 12 p.m. in East Lansing. The following matches will take place on Sunday, Jan. 26 as the Eagles will compete in two separate events. The first one will be against Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill and the second will be versus the University of Illinois at 5 p.m.
The Eagles will start their conference schedule on Sunday, March 22 versus Western Michigan in Kalamazoo at 1 p.m. They will then have two consecutive home events against the University of Buffalo (March 29) and University of Toledo (April 3). Both events will begin at 1 p.m. at the Chippewa Club in Ypsilanti.
The final preseason poll results are as follows: Buffalo (77 points), Miami (76), Ball State (59), Akron (49), Western Michigan (40), Toledo (38), Bowling Green (35), Eastern Michigan (18), and Northern Illinois (13). The Bulls have began their season 2-0 with victories over Carnegie Mellon and Niagara.
