Wayne State University Athletics

Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics

Daniel Grey (left) and Cedric Drenth (right) claimed the trophy as the winning duo at the end of the tournament.

Men's Tennis 10/28/2023 5:12:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Shines at Inaugural Mike Kneale Memorial Doubles Tournament

The Warriors had three of the final four pairs in contention on Saturday.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's tennis team recorded a strong performance at the Inaugural Mike Kneale Memorial Doubles Tournament on Saturday, sending three pairings to the final four with Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) and Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) emerging victorious from the 16-team bracket.

Saturday's doubles tournament was hosted by the Warriors and played in memory of Michael (Mike) Kneale, a member of the men's tennis team from 1979 to 1982. Kneale had a decorated collegiate career as a four-time letterwinner, a two-time team MVP (1979 and 1980), and a GLIAC Champion (1980 and 1981). He also won league titles at the No. 2 doubles position in 1979 and 1980 and was the No. 6 singles champion in 1981. Kneale also made several contributions to the WSU tennis program during his life.

The Warriors certainly played in the Mike Kneale championship way on Saturday, as they went a combined 12-2 with the two defeats in contests where WSU tandems played each other. Wayne State was playing in the doubles tournament with visiting Tiffin University, University of Findlay, and Lawrence Tech University to form the four-school event.

Play began this morning at 10 a.m. Matches were played at both the indoor Duchene Athletic Facility and outdoor WSU Tennis Courts, which were fully re-done earlier in the fall. Contests were also primarily scored in the style of eight game pro-sets instead of the standard six common to dual matches seen in the spring and some fall matches.

Winners in the main bracket stayed indoors at Duchene, while most of the consolation matches were played outside.

Of the eight Round of 16 battles, the Warriors were triumphant in all four they played in. Drenth and Grey defeated Tiffin's Martin Driesner and Cyrille Colomb 8-3, while Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark) and Joe Steele (Beverly Hills, Mich.) posted an 8-5 win over Antoine Haurez and Takuya King of Lawrence Tech.

Dom Spicer (London, England) and Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) continued to play with each other after the pair's appearance at the ITA Cup. They notched an 8-1 victory vs. Daniel Martinez Roca and Janis Auslands from Tiffin. In the last WSU Round of 16 match, Joe Kelt (Ilkley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom) and freshman Benjamin Hill (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) had an 8-6 triumph against TU's Driesner and Ghali Ouajahat Filali.

Drenth and Grey won 8-3 over Filali and Maxime Navrotchi in the quarterfinals, with Mikkelsen and Steele likewise advancing via an 8-6 victory vs. Ruben Fonga and Matthew Weaver from the Dragons. Spicer and Laws also won 8-6 against Arthur Bord and Dallas Ramsey from Findlay. However, Kelt and Hill could not complete the Warrior sweep of the semifinals as they were downed 9-7 by Michael Gurtner and Matthew Telford (TU).

The Green and Gold made it an all-Wayne State finals as Drenth/Grey and Spicer/Laws earned semifinals wins. The German tandem had to defeat another WSU pairing in Mikkelsen and Steele 8-1, while Spicer and Laws collected a tight 9-8 win vs. Gurtner/Telford.

In what was a rematch from the doubles final at the ITA Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., the result remained the same as Drenth and Grey collected the hardware at the end of the day with their 8-5 victory over their WSU teammates.

Driesner and Colomb from Tiffin won the consolation side of the bracket with a 6-2 triumph against Wilfredo Lara and Luigi Bove of the Oilers. The Warriors also completed in (and won) a pair of consolation matches, shown below.

- Kelt/Drenth def. Ruben Fonga/Matthew Weaver (Tiffin), 8-6 - NOTE: Drenth played in the place of Hill.
- Steele/Mikkelsen def. Louam Boivin/Evan Morgan (Lawrence Tech), 8-3

FROM COACH MORROW
"Overall it was a great effort from all of the guys to close out the fall tournament schedule. I am proud that we were able to grab three of the four spots in the semifinals. We played some strong tennis today and it showed in our results, especially with Cedric and Daniel winning the tournament at the end," said head coach Bryan Morrow.

INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
Drenth: 5-0
Grey: 4-0
Spicer: 3-1
Laws: 3-1
Mikkelsen: 3-1
Kelt: 2-2
Steele: 3-2
Hill: 1-1

UP NEXT
Wayne State will look ahead to its spring dual match schedule where the matches count in the standings. WSU's first such contest will be at home vs. Lawrence Tech at 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 1.

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey: 6' 0"; Senior

Benjamin Hill: 6' 0"; Freshman

Joe Kelt: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Luke Laws: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

Emil Mikkelsen: 5' 11"; Senior

Dom Spicer: 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Joe Steele: 6' 0"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth
: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey
: 6' 0"; Senior

Benjamin Hill
: 6' 0"; Freshman

Joe Kelt
: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Luke Laws
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

Emil Mikkelsen
: 5' 11"; Senior

Dom Spicer
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Joe Steele
: 6' 0"; Senior