DETROIT (1/31/13) – The University of Detroit Mercy women's tennis team will travel to Eastern Michigan on Friday before opening its home schedule against Oakland on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield.
Nino Sujashvili leads the Titans with 11 singles victories stretching back to the fall season while Valeryia Kulikouskaya has earned 10 wins of her own.
Elena Strakhova has earned the only singles win in dual match play for UDM this year coming against Xavier (1/26) at sixth singles.
In doubles action, the pair of
Irina Slizovskaya and Strakhova are 1-1 at first doubles while the pairs of
Chloe Karoub and Sujashvili and
Julia Fernandes and Kulikouskaya have both earned wins at second and third doubles, respectively.
EMU is 2-4 in the dual match season and is coming off a 5-2 victory at IPFW (1/26) and a close, 4-3, loss at Michigan State (1/22). Klara Supejova is 5-1 in dual match play at second singles while Nino Mebuke and Daphne Friedrichs are both 3-3 at first and third singles, respectively.
The pair of Mebuke and Supejova lead the team with four wins at first doubles, including an 8-5 win over Michigan State. Mebuke and Diana Davitaia are ranked ninth in the Midwest Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) after making it to the round of 16 at the ITA Regional Tournament in the fall before they fell to a pair from Michigan (8-3).
Detroit has not defeated the Eagles (0-17) and lost its last match, 7-0, in 2011.
Oakland is 0-1 after falling, 7-0, to Michigan State on Saturday. The Grizzlies are led by a pair of freshmen who have singles records above .500. Tamara Blum is 7-2 over both the fall and dual match seasons in singles play and Juliana Guevara is 5-4. In doubles action, Blum has teamed up with Emily Raidt for a 3-4 record in tournament and dual match play.
UDM is 6-5 all time versus Oakland and won the last meeting, 7-0, in 2010.
Detroit will take a break from competitive action before the Titans host Dayton at the Franklin Athletic Club on Friday Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
