KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's tennis team was picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Regular Season by the Preseason Coaches' Poll, which is voted on by the leagues' eight head coaches.
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The top four were extremely close, with Buffalo coming out on top with 68 total votes. Ball State (67), Miami (65) and Western Michigan (62) rounded out the top four. Buffalo and Ball State each received three MAC Tournament Championship votes, Miami took home two and Western Michigan received one vote.
WMU finished 19-8 overall, 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and made a trip to the MAC Championship game after making the tournament as the No. 3 seed last season. The Brown & Gold finished 10-1 at home in 2015-16 and 9-2 in both 2014-15 and 2013-14.
Throughout the fall, the team competed in five different tournaments, finishing with an overall record of 65-26 in singles and 39-22 in doubles. Every player on the Broncos has a winning record, as senior Barbare Eristavi leads the team in singles wins with an 11-1 record and sophomore Denise Azcui is 10-2 and has won her last five matches. Freshman Gabriela Slavova is 8-4 and has won four straight going into the spring season and sophomore Katja Fevralev is 7-3.
In doubles play, the duo of senior Tracy Kuhle/sophomore Melina Lyubomirova lead the team win a 6-2 record. Individually, Kuhle and Lyubomirova are 11-5 and 10-5, respectively. Slavova is 11-4 in doubles while junior Olivia Myers is 9-5.
Kuhle was a Second Team All-MAC selection last season while Azcui, Lyubomirova and Myers were each named to the All-MAC Tournament team.
The Broncos resume the 2016-17 season with a pair of home matches on Saturday, Jan. 14, first against Oakland at 11 a.m. and second with Valparaiso at 5 p.m.; Both matches will be played at West Hills Athletic Club. Admission to all home tennis matches is free of charge.
