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Wayne State University Athletics

0
Lawrence Tech LTU (1-1)
7
Winner Wayne State WSUM (1-0)
Lawrence Tech LTU
(1-1)
0
Final
7
Wayne State WSUM
(1-0)
Winner
Joe Steele and Emil Mikkelsen
Joe Steele won in doubles (with Benjamin Hill), while Emil Mikkelsen triumphed in singles for WSU vs. LTU.

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Handles Lawrence Tech 7-0 for Season-Opening Victory

The Warriors played the first of 10 regular season home matches on Thursday.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's tennis team (1-0 overall) claimed a 7-0 victory in its first regular season match of the season against visiting Lawrence Tech (1-1 overall) on Thursday afternoon inside the Duchene Athletic Facility.

The contest was the first of back-to-back matches in consecutive days for the Warriors, who officially began their run for a third-straight NCAA Tournament performance.

DOUBLES
WSU swept all three doubles flights to claim the first point of the new season.

The dynamic duo of Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) and Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) were on display at the No. 1 spot, with the two Germans earning a 6-1 win over LTU's Louam Boivin and Redwane Bouhajda.  Drenth and Grey came into the new campaign ranked fifth in the nation in doubles and first within the Midwest Region.

Another ranked Wayne State team - Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) and Dom Spicer (London, England) secured a 6-2 victory against Juan Jose Escriba Pastor and Evan Morgan.  The pair were ranked 13th in Division II and third in the region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

A new tandem this season played in the No. 3 doubles position.  Senior Joe Steele (Beverly Hills, Mich.) teamed up with freshman Benjamin Hill (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) for a 6-3 triumph vs. Takuya King and Antoine Haurez.

SINGLES
The Green and Gold claimed all six singles positions to finish the shutout performance over the Blue Devils.

In the closest match of the afternoon, Grey needed a 7-1 tie-breaking victory over Morgan to claim the first set 7-6, before blanking his opponent 6-0 in the set to earn the point.  Grey was ranked 10th within the Midwest Region by the ITA.

The rest of the Warriors all managed straight set wins with no tiebreakers.  Drenth, the eighth-ranked singles player within the region, defeated Boivin 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot.  Over at the third flight, Spicer (No. 14 in the region for singles) tallied a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against King.

At the fifth flight, Hill secured a 6-2, 6-3 win vs. Bouhajda.  The German newcomer stepped up for the Green and Gold in both singles and doubles, earning his first collegiate victories in both categories.

Two Warriors saw their first action of the day in singles.  Denali Kitayama (West Bloomfield Township, Mich. / Walled Lake Central (United States Air Force Academy)) collected set wins of 6-3 and 6-4 to down Haurez.  Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark) faced Escriba Pastor and held down the fort at the No. 6 position with set victories of 6-2 and 6-1 to end the contest.

FROM COACH MORROW
"We started pretty well in doubles with good energy.  We had early leads and the team played pretty well throughout.  Singles was up and down, but it was the first match of the season and a time to get the nerves out of the way.  Lawrence Tech is a good team and well-coached, so we are happy with the victory," said head coach Bryan Morrow on the triumph.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will finish its back-to-back on Friday afternoon at Division I Toledo.  The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. from the Shadow Valley Tennis Club.

 
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