There was no joking around with the Eastern Michigan tennis team Friday.
The Eagles (8-8) beat the Northern Illinois Huskies 7-0 on April Fools’ Day giving them a much-needed victory and bringing the team back up to the .500 mark after losing at Miami to the Red Hawks a week before.
NIU is 2-9.
In doubles, EMU junior Miriam Westerink and Nino Mebuke won their match 8-1.
The following two doubles matches, played by EMU senior Xu Chang and junior Georgia de’Lisle-Tarr and Eagles’ freshman Toncheva and junior Marcela Rivero both won 8-4 for the doubles sweep.
“The ladies did a great job of coming out and taking care of business today,” EMU coach Ryan Ray said. “We really limped through the week with some health issues, but the training staff did a great job getting us ready and the team came to play today. It’s a good feeling to be at home since traveling the last two months, and we’re looking forward to a home series again next weekend with Akron and Buffalo.”
As for singles, EMU shined like it did in doubles and only lost one set.
In the fourth singles match, Marcela Rivero edged out NIU’s Haley Dekkinga to win the third-set tie-breaker 10-6, bouncing back after losing the second set 3-6.
Four sets in doubles went 6-0 to the Eagles on Sunday. The overall win was critical to keep their hopes alive for the Mid-American Conference championships.
The Eagles are on the home stretch with just five regular season matches left this year.
On Friday, the team will be back in action at the Chippewa Club when it hosts Akron and then Buffalo the following day.
The Eagles then take a swing when they visit Bowling Green April 15 and Western Michigan April 16 before they return home for their season finale versus Toledo on April 22.
The MAC championships start April 28 at the Chippewa Club.
