Wayne State University Athletics

Men's Tennis 2/29/2024 4:30:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Set for Battle with Two Midwest Region Opponents to End Week

WSU will conclude a three-match homestand that began last Saturday in Detroit.

DETROIT -- The eighth-ranked Wayne State University men's tennis squad will finish a three-match home stand this week against a pair of Midwest Region foes in Hillsdale College and #6-Indianapolis. The Warriors will host the Chargers on Friday, March 1, before playing their third contest of 2024 against the Greyhounds on Sunday, March 3.

Both match-ups will be held inside the Duchene Athletic Facility, with each day also featuring women's tennis action prior to the men's matches. First serve against HC is scheduled for 6 p.m., while WSU and UIndy will square off at 3 p.m. to conclude the weekend.

ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS UPDATE
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released another edition of its Top 25 National Rankings on Wednesday afternoon (February 28), which served as the third round of rankings for 2024. The coaches poll ranked Wayne State eighth in the country following eight matches this campaign - the same place it has put the Green and Gold in the first two rankings.

The Top 10 includes Barry, Saint Leo, Flagler, Valdosta State, Columbus State, Indianapolis, West Florida, Wayne State, Rollins, and Hawaii Pacific and Lander in a tie for 10th. The Warriors are joined from the GLIAC by Ferris State, who appears tied-for-20th with Ouachita Baptist.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State played just one match last weekend, which ended in a 7-0 shutout of Walsh University from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). The triumph snapped WSU's four-match losing streak, with all four matches being against nationally ranked opponents in that span.

The Green and Gold's three doubles tandems all were victorious, led by Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) and Dom Spicer (London, England) posting a 6-0 blanking of the Cavaliers' Niklas Nordahl Jensen and Fedor Kuznetsov at the second flight.

WSU finished the sweep of the afternoon with six wins in the six singles contests. Winners in order of playing position (No. 1 through No. 6) went Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany), Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany), Spicer, Denali Kitayama (West Bloomfield Township, Mich. / Walled Lake Central (United States Air Force Academy)), Benjamin Hill (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), and Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark).

VS. HILLSDALE (3/1)
Hillsdale's men's tennis program was revitalized for the 2015-16 season after being dropped as a varsity sport following 2002-03. The Chargers' re-formed squad spent two seasons back in the GLIAC (2015-16 and 2016-17), before HC departed for the G-MAC in 2017.

The Chargers have played seven matches for a 3-4 record, with all three triumphs coming over Davenport (4-3), Michigan Tech (4-3), and Lake Superior State (4-2) - all programs within the conference it used to call home. The Chargers will have played six of the seven GLIAC schools that sponsor men's tennis following Saturday's meeting in Detroit. The only GLIAC team that Hillsdale will have not played this season is Grand Valley State.

The Warriors are 7-2 against its old league rivals since the men's tennis squad returned to Hillsdale, which includes a 7-0 road victory for the Green and Gold last season on April 4, 2023. Although playing in other cities during the span (Clinton Township, Mich. and Southfield, Mich.), the Chargers have not paid a visit to the Motor City since February 25, 2018.

Hillsdale is coached by Keith Turner in his ninth season. Turner has led HC since the program's relaunch in 2015-16, and has guided the Chargers to a 92-64 (.590) ledger.

VS. INDIANAPOLIS (3/3)
Indianapolis has not played a match since its appearance at the ITA National Indoor Championship between February 16 and February 18, an event that the program hosted inside the UIndy Tennis Center. The Greyhounds are 6-1 on the season entering March, with two of those victories coming over the Warriors by matching 4-1 scores. UIndy's only loss was to #6-Columbus State in the opening round of the ITA Tournament.

Sunday's affair will be the third time this season, and first time in Detroit, that the teams have met. In fact, it will also be the first time since at least the 2003-04 season that Indianapolis will be playing WSU in a true road match. UIndy has claimed the last six meetings between the two schools, dating back to May 1, 2018.

The Greyhounds have three players either regionally or nationally ranked by the ITA. Tom Zeuch is the second-ranked singles player in all of Division II, and second within the Midwest Region. Matthieu Derache is 24th and third, respectively, while Zeuch and doubles partner Louis Picaud appear eighth for the category within the region.

The Greyhounds are coached by Malik Tabet in his 12th season at the helm of the program. Tabet has led Indianapolis to a 189-46 (.804) overall record and a 53-3 (.946) ledger in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). He is assisted by Nastassia Chamoun, Carlos Thireau Cuco, and Milan Jankovic.

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey: 6' 0"; Senior

Benjamin Hill: 6' 0"; Freshman

Denali Kitayama: 5' 7"; Senior

Luke Laws: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

Emil Mikkelsen: 5' 11"; Senior

Dom Spicer: 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth
: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey
: 6' 0"; Senior

Benjamin Hill
: 6' 0"; Freshman

Denali Kitayama
: 5' 7"; Senior

Luke Laws
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student

Emil Mikkelsen
: 5' 11"; Senior

Dom Spicer
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student