Men's Tennis | 2/12/2026 4:27:00 PM

Emporia State Hornet Men at William Jewell Cardinals
Friday, February 13 | 11:00 a.m.
Genesis Health Club Clayview | Kansas City, Mo.
Emporia State Hornet Women vs. McPherson Bulldogs
Saturday, February 14 | 2:00 p.m.
Kossover Family Tennis Complex | Emporia, Kan.
Emporia State Hornet Men and Women vs. Rockhurst Hawks
Sunday, February 15 | 2:45 p.m. (Men followed by Women
Genesis Health Club Lawrence South| Lawrence, Kan.
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next:  Men and Women at Southwest Baptist
Friday, February 20 | 10:00 a.m. |Bryan Tennis Center | Bolivar, Mo.

BUSY WEEKEND
Emporia State tennis has a busy weekend with a combined four matches in three cities over three days. Action starts on Friday with the men taking on William Jewell in Kansas City, followed by a women's home dual with McPherson on Saturday and both teams playing Rockhurst on Sunday in Lawrence.

LAST TIME OUT
The Emporia State women picked up a 6-1 exhibition victory on Saturday against Seward CC. The Hornets swept doubles and won the final five singles matches with the lone loss coming to the #38 player in NJCAA.
The Emporia State men picked up a 6-1 exhibition win over Seward CC on Sunday. Anton Sarunic and Diego Calvo got Emporia State started with a 6-2 win at 1 singles before Seward CC evened it with a win at #2.  Luke West and Duvan Santiago Torres secured the doubles point with 6-2 win. The Saints picked up a win at 1 singles to even the dual before the Hornets rolled off five straight singles wins to get the victory.

THE COACH
Former Hornet CyCy Peyroche is 16-22 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 Hornet before moving into the graduate assistant position.  
John Blackburn is 22-16 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 tournament championships and made two NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also a head coach at Eastern Illinois, Coker College and Palm Beach Atlantic. 

QUICK LOOK AT THE HORNETS
The Emporia State women are 1-0 on the season after a 6-1 victory over Bethel to open the spring. They have three returners led by all-MIAA performers Giovanna Ferreira and Yuliya Klimova along with MIAA A-Game Scholar Sheriden Wichman.
The Hornet men are 1-0 with a 7-0 win over Kansas Wesleyan to begin the spring. They have nine returners led by senior Anton Sarunic, who ended last season ranked #24 in the nation in NCAA Division II singles, and the doubles team of graduate student Gwendal Mazuay and sophomore Alexis Mattenberger who ended last season ranked #45 in the nation in D2 doubles play.

KNOW THE FOES
Jewell is making their 2026 spring debut after going 0-1 in the fall. The Cardinals were 6-12 last season.
McPherson is 0-2 this season after going 21-8 and advancing tp the NAIA National Championships last year.
The Rockhurst men are 1-0 with a win over Augustana to open the spring. They went 15-7 last year, won the GLVC and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional.
The Rockhurst women are 0-1 this spring with a loss to Augustana. Last year they won the GLVC, went 18-6 overall and advance to the NCAA Round of 16.

LAST TIME VS OPPONENTS
The Emporia State men came back from a 1-0 deficit after doubles to defeat Jewell 5-2 last year at the Kossover Center.
The Emporia State women rolled to a 7-0 win over McPherson at the Kossover Family Tennis Center last season.
The then #28 Hornet men never trailed in a 6-1 win over the #31 Hawks at the Kossover Center last year.  
The then #50 Hornets defeated a nationally ranked opponent for the first time under coach Cyrielle Peyroche in a 4-3 come from behind win over the #38 Hawks.

UP NEXT
Both teams head to Bolivar, Mo. to take on Southwest Baptist on Friday February 20 at the John A. Bryant Tennis Center.