Wayne State University Athletics

Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics

Drenth and Grey were the second-ranked doubles team both regionally and nationally by the ITA after last season.

Men's Tennis 10/12/2023 6:09:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Concludes First Day at ITA Cup

Cedric Drenth and Daniel Grey advanced to the quarterfinals following their victory on Thursday.

ROME, Ga. -- Two Wayne State University men's tennis doubles teams competed in the first day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's ITA Cup on Thursday at the Rome Tennis Center, with the Warrior duo of Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) and Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) winning their match to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.

The German team entered Thursday as the top-seeded doubles pairing in the field following their win in the A doubles bracket at the ITA Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich. Drenth and Grey proved why they are the No. 1 overall seed with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Jowan Rawson and Jorge Perez from the University of Charleston in the Round of 16. The two WSU student-athletes are playing in their second ITA Cup and have already performed better than last season. In 2022, the tandem lost in the opening round before two wins in the consolation bracket.

Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) and Dom Spicer (London, England) also battled in doubles for the Green and Gold on Thursday. In a valiant effort against a tough opponent in the opening round, they fell in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) to the third-seeded Santiago Rendon and Tim Hammes from Washburn University.

Friday's action at the Rome Tennis Center will include quarterfinals matches and consolation play. Drenth and Grey will next face Cas de Ruiter and Teodor Zlatar from Harding University at 5:30 p.m. Laws and Spicer will head to the consolation bracket for two more matches at their first ITA Cup as a doubles tandem. They will contest Seth Newman and Henry Ronnberg from Saint Thomas Aquinas College at 4 p.m.

WSU's two doubles team qualified for the championship in different ways. Drenth and Grey automatically qualified for the event with their doubles victory at the regional championships, while Laws (competing at the ITA Cup for the first time ever) and Spicer (second ITA Cup after being in the singles field last season) earned one of the eight at-large bids.

The ITA Cup, formerly known as the Small College Nationals, has a history dating back to 1986. It is the only singles and doubles national championship event for the Division II and NAIA levels. In 2022, more than 8,000 players participated in 60 regional tournaments to gain entry into the ITA Cup field.

Matches in both singles and doubles will continue throughout the weekend in Rome, Ga. The ITA Cup is being hosted by Berry College for a seventh consecutive year, dating back to 2017.

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey: 6' 0"; Senior

Luke Laws: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

Dom Spicer: 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth
: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey
: 6' 0"; Senior

Luke Laws
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

Dom Spicer
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student