Emporia State Tennis Returns To Kossover To Take On FHSU + UNK

Hornets play host to Tigers on Thursday, Lopers on Monday

Women's Tennis | 4/1/2026 9:56:00 PM

Emporia State Hornet Women (7-6, 1-1 MIAA)

vs. Fort Hay State Tigers (8-3, 0-1 MIAA)

Thursday, April 2 | 2:00 p.m.

Kossover Family Tennis Center | Emporia, Kan.

vs. Neb.-Kearney Lopers (5-6, 0-2 MIAA)

Monday, April 6 | 3:00 p.m.

Kossover Family Tennis Center | Emporia, Kan.

Emporia State Hornet Men (6-6, 0-0 MIAA/GAC North)

vs. Neb.-Kearney Lopers (9-3, 2-0 MIAA/GAC North)

Monday, April 6 | 3:00 p.m.

Kossover Family Tennis Center | Emporia, Kan.

The MIAA Network | Complete Notes in pdf

UP NEXT: Women vs. #17 Washburn

Thursday, April 9 | Emporia, Kan.

Men vs. #10 Washburn

Friday, April 10 | Emporia, Kan.

FINALLY

The Emporia State women make their first appearance at the Kossover Family Tennis Center since March 14 when they play host to Fort Hays State on Friday with both teams taking on Neb.-Kearney on Monday, the first home match for the men since March 7.

LAST SERVE

The Emporia State tennis teams got back on the winning track with a pair of sweeps in MIAA play at Newman on Saturday afternoon.

ESU Men 7, Newman 0

The Hornet men rolled to 7-0 win over the Jets at the Riverside Tennis Courts.

Anton Sarunic and Luke West started things with a quick 6-1 win at #1 doubles. Mostafa Elbasnaly and Diego Calvo gave the doubles point to the Hornets with a 6-3 win at the #2 position before Duvan Santiago Torres and Gwenal Mazuay finished with a 6-3 win at #3.

Roko Kacer won 6-0, 6-1 at #5 singles and Santiago Torres won 6-1, 6-1 at #6 to give Emporia State a 3-0 lead. Elbasnaly clinched the dual win with a 6-2, 6-2 win at #1 singles. Sarunic was leading 6-2, 5-0 when he won by retirement at #2 singles to give the Hornets a 5-0 lead. Calvo and West both won three set matches to complete the sweep. Calvo won 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2) at #3 while West picked up a 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (11-9) win at #4 singles to finish out the 7-0 victory.

ESU Women 7, Newman 0

The Hornet women took care of business against a short handed Jets team for a 7-0 win.

Newman could only field two doubles teams so Emporia State only had to win one of the contested matches. Both Carla Paul Piquer and Giovanna Ferreira at #1 and Sheriden Wichman and Yuliya Klimova at #2 won 6-2 to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead after doubles.

With no one in the #6 spot for the Jets, Emporia State started singles with a 2-0 lead. Paul Piquer won 6-0, 6-1 at #3 and Erin Cahill won 6-1, 6-3 at #5 for 4-0 lead and clinch of the dual. Ferreira won 6-4, 6-3 at #1, Klimova picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win at #2 and Giulia Russu won 6-4, 7-5 at #4 singles for a 7-0 dual win.

THE COACHES

John Blackburn is 28-22 in his third season as the head men's coach and Director of Tennis at Emporia State. He spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division III Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. He went 117-58 overall with a 54-4 record in conference play, winning three regular season conference championships, two conference tourney championships and made two NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also a head coach at Eastern Illinois, Coker College and Palm Beach Atlantic.

Former Hornet CyCy Peyroche is 21-28 in her third full season as the permanent coach of the Emporia State women's program. She took over as the interim coach for both teams in December of 2022. She went 6-9 with the men's team and 5-13 in women's action as the interim coach. Peyroche was 23-15 in singles play during her three years as a player for ESU.

QUICK LOOK AT THE HORNETS

The Hornet men are 7-6, 1-0 in the MIAA with five of the losses to nationally ranked teams. They have only played two duals at the Kossover Family Tennis Center. Diego Calvo is 10-3 against four year opponents this spring and is 6-0 at the #3 spot. Roko Kacer is 8-3 in singles play at #5 and #6. Mostafa Elbasnaly is 5-1 at #2 singles and 9-4 overall. Luke West and Anton Sarunic are ranked #27 in the nation this week and are 4-2 at #1 doubles. West has partnered with Duvan Santiago Torres to go 5-0 in doubles play. Sarunic and Calvo are 3-1 in doubles play with a 2-1 mark at the #1 spot.

The Emporia State women are 7-6, 1-1 in the MIAA this spring season. They have three returners led by all-MIAA performers Giovanna Ferreira and Yuliya Klimova along with MIAA A-Game Scholar Sheriden Wichman. Ferreira is 4-4 overall and 2-0 at #2 singles this spring while Wichman is 6-5 overall with a 2-1 mark at #3. Newcomer Erin Cahill is 7-4 this spring, going 3-0 at #5 singles with wins at #3 and #6 as well. Giulia Russu is 6-4 in doubles play while Cahill is 3-1 this spring. Combined they are 2-1 at #3 doubles.

KNOW THE FOES

The Fort Hays State women are 8-3, 0-1 in the MIAA with six of their duals coming against NAIA competition. Molly Gaddis and Ines Latorre are both 9-2 in dual competition with Garris doing it all at #2 while Torres has split matches at #3 and #4. Bethan Gill is 8-3 in duals with a 5-1 mark at #1 singles. Janae Montoya and and Ines Steeman are 6-1 at #3 doubles.

The Neb.-Kearney women are 5-6, 0-2 in the MIAA and have lost four straight duals. Fabiana Gamboa is 7-3 with a 6-0 mark at #2 singles. Pa Cechanaviciute is 5-3 at #1 singles with a 5-6 record overall. Gamboa and Clare Plachy are 7-4 in doubles with a 6-3 mark at the #2 spot.

The Lopers are 9-3, 2-0 in the MIAA and ranked #21 in the nation on the men's side. Ivan Melnik is 10-4 in dual play singles and ranked #58 in the nation while Andy Brisdon is 9-4 and ranked #75 nationally. Combined they are 11-3 in doubles and ranked #19 in the nation.

EMPORIA STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Emporia State women have a 5-5 record in five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2007. They made their first appearance in 2005 with a 5-1 win over Colorado Mesa before falling 5-1 to Northwest Missouri in the second round. The Hornets beat Washburn 5-3 in the first round of 2006 and dropped a 5-4 decision to Northwest Missouri in the second round. In 2007 they picked up a 5-1 win over Colorado Mesa and a 5-2 win over Neb.-Omaha before falling 5-0 to eventual national champion BYU-Hawaii in the round of 16. ESU completed a five year run of appearances with a 5-3 win over Washburn and a 5-2 loss to Northwest Missouri in 2008. The most recent NCAA tourney was a 5-0 loss to Augustana in 2014.

The Hornet men have made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. They lost 5-1 in the first round to Washburn in 2007 and to Northwest Missouri 5-1 in the first round in 2008.

UP NEXT

Emporia State will play host to nationally ranked squads from Washburn at the Kossover Family Tennis Center. The Hornets and #17 Ichabod women will meet on Thursday, April 9 with the Emporia State men taking on #10 Washburn on Friday, April 10.

Players Mentioned

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