Northwest Wayne News

Wayne State University's men's tennis team, ranked 24th nationally, faced a challenging match against Northwestern Ohio, the top-ranked team in NAIA. The encounter took place at the Westwood Tennis and Fitness Center in Lima, Ohio, and concluded with a 6-1 victory for Northwestern Ohio. This match was considered an exhibition for Wayne State.

The Racers had recently ascended to the number one spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's computerized rankings. In doubles play, Wayne State experimented with new pairings as regular players Daniel Grey and Dom Spicer took on coaching roles. Cedric Drenth and Luke Laws competed at the No. 1 spot but were defeated by Malik Omarkhanov and Martin Stanchev. Denali Kitayama and Emil Mikkelsen lost their match at the second flight against Sergio Conde and Lucas Perez. Benjamin Hill and Joe Steele played competitively at No. 3 but ultimately fell to Mathieu Strauss and Nils Messin in a tiebreaker.

In singles competition, Northwestern Ohio secured five of six matches. Drenth provided Wayne State's sole victory by defeating Conde in three sets at the first flight. Kitayama faced a loss against Strauss at the second flight, while Laws was defeated by Omarkhanov at No. 3.

Hill fought hard but lost to Stanchev at the fourth flight, Mikkelsen was beaten by Perez at No. 5, and Steele succumbed to Messin after initially taking a set lead.

Wayne State is scheduled to face Case Western Reserve University next in another exhibition match.