KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's tennis team will look for its first Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament Championship since 2007 as the Broncos head to Muncie, Ind., to face No. 3 Buffalo in the opener on Friday, April 28 at 2 p.m.
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"I feel pretty good heading into the tournament. I feel like we have competed with every team that is represented in the draw," head coach Ryan Tomlinson said. "I really feel like any of the six teams could win it. We just have to control what we can control, play high-percentage tennis and compete with high energy and great effort. Buffalo is a talented team, we're going to have to play well to win that first match and we look forward to the challenge."
The Broncos, who finished 10-12 overall and 4-4 in the MAC, enter the six-team tournament as the No. 6 seed and will face No. 2 Akron with a win over the Bulls. No. 4 Miami will face No. 5 Northern Illinois in the first match on Friday at 10 a.m.
In the earlier match this season, WMU defeated Buffalo 4-3 on a masterful comeback where the Broncos needed wins on the final three courts remaining, all of which went to a third set. Tracy Kuhle, Barbare Eristavi and Denise Azcui all earned wins in the first meeting and the Broncos won the doubles point over the Bulls.
Two WMU players have reached the 20-win mark, as Eristavi leads the way with a 25-7 overall record, 7-1 record in the MAC and has won her last seven matches. Azcui is 20-13 overall, Kuhle is 16-14 overall and 5-3 in the MAC.
WMU will march out the doubles teams of Eristavi/Melina Lyubomirova, who are 2-1 at No. 1, Olivia Myers/Azcui, who are 6-3 at No. 2 and Kuhle/Katja Fevralev, who are 3-1 at No. 3.
With a win on Friday, the Broncos and No. 2 Akron will square off on Saturday, April 29 at 2 p.m. in the MAC Tournament Semifinals. All matches will be streaming on ESPN3.
