Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University men's tennis team, ranked 22nd nationally, faced a narrow defeat against Ferris State University on Sunday. The match, held at the WSU Tennis Courts, ended with a 4-3 victory for Ferris State. This result places Ferris State in a favorable position for the GLIAC Regular-Season Championship.

Ferris State now leads Wayne State by one match, with both teams having two matches left in the season. Despite the loss, Wayne State maintains an impressive 9-1 home record for the regular season.

This was the first outdoor match of the season on WSU's newly renovated tennis courts. Prior matches were played indoors at the Duchene Athletic Facility.

In doubles play, Ferris State won all three matches to secure an early point. Cedric Drenth and Daniel Grey from Wayne State faced Jan Koupil and Benjamin Lortie but lost 6-3. Luke Laws and Dom Spicer had a close match against Esunge Ndumbe and Alessandro Santangelo but were defeated 7-6 (7-4). Kevin Kovacs and Yannic-Alexander Mader overcame Denali Kitayama and Benjamin Hill with a score of 6-4.

In singles competition, both teams split their six matches. Grey secured a win over Ndumbe with scores of 6-4 and 6-3. Drenth triumphed over Lortie with set scores of 6-2 and 6-1. Spicer also won his match against Mader with scores of 6-2 and 6-4.

Kitayama managed to win one set against Koupil but ultimately lost in three sets: 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, and 6-2. Hill was defeated by Santangelo at No. 5 singles in straight sets: 6-3, 6-2.

Laws' match against Kovacs went to a tiebreaker after splitting the first two sets; Kovacs emerged victorious with a final score of 7-4 in the tiebreaker.

Wayne State will conclude its regular season starting Friday, April 19th, at Purdue Northwest in Griffith, Indiana.