 "Photo: Corey James Wheeler / Contributing Photographer")
After a successful week, Wayne State is rushing toward first place in the conference, tying with Ferris State. The highly-confident team played three matches the past week. The team won March 31 against Tiffin 6-3, lost April 1 against Aquinas College 4-5 and won again April 2 against Grand Valley State University 5-4.
The always reliable doubles No. 1 secured their point for the team, as well as the doubles No. 2 and No.3.
In the singles clash, Tiffin came close to Wayne State, evening the match 3-3. The victories at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles secured the team’s victory.
In the closest match of the day, senior Kevin Turnbull managed to take out his opponent in three sets (6-2, 5-7, 6-4).
“My opponent was mediocre, but with the windy conditions, the match was tougher than I wanted it to be. I was definitely frustrated,” Turnbull said. “But all that matters to me is that I got the win. I don’t care if it’s 6-0, 6-0 or 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. A win is a win.”
In the continuance of the season, the men’s team played Aquinas College, where they stumbled a bit. The No. 1 doubles pair Bertrand Moulin and Britton Steele got their 10th win of the season, marking their record of 10-2.
The team suffered some setbacks, but still picked up quality wins. Secured victories for the green and gold were at the No. 1 doubles, and No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 singles.
“We should have beat Aquinas easily, but the guys weren’t concentrating and implicated enough during this match,” Moulin said.
Jon Groszek, a freshman from Dearborn Heights, sets his goals high. Since the beginning of the season, Groszek didn’t drop a match in the No. 6 singles position.
“I think we are having a really awesome season,” Groszek said. “Being a freshman, I think we have really good team chemistry, and we have lots of fun together whether it’s on the road trips or just hanging out.”
The Warriors played their old rival, Grand Valley, in another close match of the week.
The star of the match was Roberto Gomez, a senior from Mexico. When the match got tied at 4-4, Gomez was the one to resolve the winner of that day. In spite of the pressure and the significance that his match carried, Gomez came out as a winner, showing his abilities to keep his composure and playing good tennis.
“Coming fresh off a win at Grand Valley we are in a great position to do some damage in the GLIAC,” Groszek said.
This close victory was secured by doubles No. 1 and No. 3, and singles No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5. This time, Groszek didn’t have success and suffered the first defeat of the season.
“The last match of the weekend was the most important. GVSU is a rival and everybody was pumped and ready for this match. The guys were motivated and the final result was positive,” Moulin said. “We won what the team believed were the two most important matches, because they were conference matches.”
The Warriors will play again when they host University of Findlay, April 7 at 1 p.m.
Be the first to comment on this article!