Men's Tennis | 3/16/2026 12:58:00 PM

Emporia State Hornet Women (5-2)
vs. #44 Angelo State Rambelles (11-0)
Tuesday, March 17 | 11:30 a.m. (ET) | Sanlando Park | Orlando, Fla.
vs. Tampa Spartans (4-7)
Wednesday, March 18 | 11:00 a.m. (ET) | USTA National Campus | Orlando, Fla.
at #23 Florida Southern Mocs (8-3)
Friday, March 20 | 2:00 p.m. (ET) | Warden Tennis Center | Lakeland, Fla.

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Emporia State Hornet Men (5-4)
vs. Vassar College Brewers (4-3)
Tuesday, March 17 | 6:30 p.m. (ET) | USTA National Campus | Orlando, Fla.
vs. #15 Rollins Tars (9-1)
Thursday, March 19 | 1:30 p.m. (ET) | USTA National Campus | Orlando, Fla.
at #9 Florida Southern Mocs (8-3)
Friday, March 20 | 2:00 p.m. (ET) | USTA National Campus | Orlando, Fla.
Live Video from USTA Campus | Complete Notes in pdf
UP NEXT: Men vs. Sterling | March 26 | Emporia, Kan. 
Women at #50 Central Oklahoma | March 27 | Edmond, Okla.

SPRING BREAK IN FLORIDA
Emporia State travels to Florida for a total of six duals over Spring Break. Four of the six contests will be against nationally ranked teams, two for each team.

LAST SERVE
The Emporia State men came within a match of defeating #46 Southern Arkansas on Thursday afternoon in Magnolia, Ark. In a battle of nationally ranked teams the #7 duo of Uwe Diehl and Joans Sommer from Southern Arkansas defeated Emporia State's 28th ranked pair of Anton Sarunic and Luke West 6-3 to open the dual.  The Hornets got an equalizer with Diego Calvo and Duvan Santiago Torres winning 6-3 at the #3 spot.  The Muleriders earned the first point with a 7-5 win at #2 doubles. SAU got out to a 3-0 lead in singles with wins at the #4 and #1 spots.  The Hornets got on the board with a 7-5, 6-1 win by Diego Calvo at #3 singles before the Muleriders clinched the match with a win at #5 singles. Emporia State's Mostafa Elbasnaly came away with a 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (14-12) win over #66 Neumann Frode at #2 singles and Kacer ended the day with a 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4) win at #6 singles.
The Hornet women improved to 6-2 on the year with a 4-3 win over Ouachita Baptist on Saturday at the Kossover Family Tennis Center. Emporia State clinched the doubles point with 6-2 wins at #1 by Yuliya Klimova and Carla Paul Piquer and #2 by Sheriden Wichman and Giovanna Ferreira.  Ana Fatjo Coll and Giulia Russu then finished doubles with a 7-6 (7-4) win at the #3 spot. OBU took a 2-1 lead with wins at #6 and #2 singles.  Wichman won 6-3, 6-4 at #3 to even the dual and Ferreira gave the Hornets a 3-2 lead with a 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 win at #1 singles. Emporia State clinched the dual win with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win by Erin Cahill at #5 singles. The Tigers won at #4 for the final score.
 
THE COACHES
John Blackburn is 26-20 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 20-24 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.  

QUICK LOOK AT THE HORNETS
The Hornet men are 5-4 in the spring season with three of the losses to nationally ranked teams. Roko Kacer is 6-1 in the spring while Mostafa Elbasnaly and Diego Calvo are both 7-2.  Anton Sarunic and Luke West are currently ranked #28 in the nation and are 2-1 in the spring at #1 doubles. West and Duvan Santiago Torres are 5-0 on spring in doubles. Sarunic ended last season ranked #24 in the nation in NCAA Division II singles, and the team of Gwendal Mazuay and Alexis Mattenberger ended last season ranked #45 in the nation in D2 doubles play. 
The Emporia State women are 5-2 on the 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 3-0 overall and 2-0 at #2 singles this spring while Wichman is 5-2 overall with a 2-1 mark at both #3 and #4. Newcomer Erin Cahill is undefeated against four year competition this spring, going 3-0 at #6 singles with wins at #3 and #5 as well. Giulia Russu is 5-2 in doubles play going 3-1 with Ana Fatjo Coll this spring.

TOUGH ENOUGH
Six of the next nine duals for the Emporia State women will be against teams ranked in the latest NCAA Division II ITA National Rankings.  The first three will be on the road or at a neutral site with the final three ranked opponents coming to the Kossover Family Tennis Center.
The Hornet men are in the middle of a stretch of five out of six duals against nationally ranked opponents. They will play three of their final four duals against teams currently ranked in the top 50.  

KNOW THE FOES
WOMEN
Angelo State enters the week 11-0 on the season and ranked #44 in the nation. Margaux Rene is ranked #12 nationally in singles and teams with Benedetta Raggiotti to ranked #35 and Sasa Felixova to rank #38 nationally in doubles. She is joined in the singles rankings by Vasilisssa Kupriyanova at #26 and Danaiya Amangazhiyeva at #41.  
Tampa is 4-7 on the year. Their doubles team of Nicole Cierniak and Karine Kulidjian is ranked #50 in the nation.
Florida Southern is 8-3 and ranked #23 in the nation. Josie Holderbach is ranked #38 in the nation in singles with Emily Jennewin ranked #56.
MEN
The Vassar College men enter the week 4-3 overall. Eugene Lee is 2-2 at #1 singles while Fernando Bauermeister and Nolan Kubiak are 3-2 at #1 doubles for the NCAA Division III Brewers from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Rollins enters the week 9-1 and ranked #15 in the nation. Lawson Prather is ranked #9 nationally in singles while Ricahrd Stoiberer and Pete Tran are ranked #31 in doubles play.
Florida Southern is 8-3 and ranked #9 in the nation. They have two players ranked in the top 40 nationally with Mario Garoz at #16 and Mario Antonio Marales ranked #39. Bosko Boskovic adn Gabriel Jornert are ranked #41 in the nation in doubles.  

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
After the Florida trip, the Emporia State men will return to action on March 26 against Sterling in the Kossover Family Tennis Center.  The Hornet women jump into MIAA play on March 27 against #50 Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla.

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