Wayne State University Athletics

Zach Manning

Joe Steele went 2-0 in his singles matches during the first day of the Everybody vs. Cancer Invitational.

Men's Tennis 9/22/2023 10:06:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Day One in the Books for Men's Tennis at Toledo

The day included a sweep of the two doubles and five singles matches against Holy Cross College.

TOLEDO, Ohio -- The 2023 fall tournament slate began for the Wayne State University men's tennis team on Friday with day one of the Everybody vs. Cancer Invitational at the Shadow Valley Tennis Club.

The Warriors, whom were ranked eighth nationally at the end of the spring season, had matches against Tiffin University in the morning and NAIA member Holy Cross College during the afternoon. WSU competed only in singles vs. the Dragons, and went 3-5 in eight contests. The squad followed the morning session with a dominant afternoon, as the Green and Gold won both doubles matches and all five singles contests over the Saints from HCC.

"Overall, it was a pretty good day for us. Cedric started his season strong with two singles wins under his belt. Daniel did not complete his first match, but put together a complete effort in his second. Joe Kelt played one of the top guys in the country in the first round and played a good match, then bounced back with a great win in the second. Luke and Dom played nicely in doubles today. Joe Steele definitely did his job and won both of his singles matches and showed plenty of heart and fight. Benjamin Hill earned his first college win, which was good as well." said head coach Bryan Morrow.

Tiffin Matches
Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany), Luke Laws (Sunderland, England), and Joe Steele (Beverly Hills, Mich.) were victorious in their singles matches over their Tiffin competitors.

Drenth, the No. 10-ranked singles player in the nation at the end of last season by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and the second-ranked athlete in the Midwest Region, notched a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Matthew Weaver. Laws was locked in a three-set showdown with Maxime Navrotchi. The graduate student won the opening set 6-3, before falling 7-5 in the second. The third set was an intense race to be the first one to score 10 points and win by two, and Laws handled business with a 13-11 victory to claim the overall match.

Steele posted a straight sets win, 6-2, 6-4 against Ghail Filali to begin his 2023-24 campaign.

Joe Kelt (Ilkley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom) drew a tough opponent in Ruben Fonga, the ninth-ranked player in the nation and fourth-ranked in the Midwest Region. He lost, 6-2, 6-1 in a valiant effort against one of the best Division II players in the country. Dom Spicer (London, England) fell 7-5, 6-1 to Matthew Telford, while Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark) was defeated by Martin Driesner, 6-2, 6-4.

in his collegiate debut, Benjamin Hill (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) put up a strong effort against Cyrille Colomb. However, Hill lost the first set 6-4 and fell in a second set tiebreaker to his Tiffin rival, 7-6 (10-8). Another newcomer, graduate student AJ Duggan (Saginaw, Mich.) was also on the wrong end of a close decision. Facing Janis Auslands, Duggan earned a hard-fought first set triumph, 7-6 (7-5). Auslands rebounded and notched the second set 6-4, then won 11-9 in the final set to emerge triumphant.

Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) also played and garnered a 6-3 win in the first set, but the match was not completed and ended with Grey ahead 3-2 over his Tiffin opponent in the second set.

Holy Cross Matches
The Warriors flexed their muscles in the second round of matches for the day, claiming every match over Holy Cross College.

The only two doubles matches of the day by Wayne State were by Spicer and Laws. The duo started the spring slate last season playing with each other, and reunited for victories of 6-3 and 6-1 over Will Page and Bruno Sentkar.

Drenth defeated Luca McManus 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in straight sets to finish the day 2-0 in his matches. Steele also went 2-0 on Friday, recording a 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 three-set triumph vs. Polis Koursaros.

Kelt rebounded from a first match loss to handle Adam Singleton in the afternoon affair, 6-3, 6-2. Hill earned his first ever collegiate victory in his second match. The freshman reversed a two-set loss in match one into a two-set victory in the second contest, registering a 6-1, 6-4 triumph vs. Laurenz Flender.

The final win over HCC belonged to Grey. The eighth-ranked player in the Midwest Region in the latest rankings put together a complete performance in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Ciaran McCarthy to emerge with the match.

Day One Totals
Drenth: 2-0 singles
Grey: 1-0 singles
Kelt: 1-1 singles
Spicer: 2-0 doubles, 0-1 singles
Laws: 2-0 doubles, 1-0 singles
Hill: 1-1 singles
Duggan: 0-1 singles
Steele: 2-0 singles
Mikkelsen: 0-1 singles

The University of Toledo is hosting the three-day invitational, which benefits the American Cancer Society. Day two is set to begin at 9 a.m., with the Warriors slated to battle Case Western Reserve, the defending Division III champions, in a similar style to Friday's matches.

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth: 6' 2"; Junior

AJ Duggan: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

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

AJ Duggan
: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

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