Men's Tennis 4/18/2024 10:30:00 AM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis to Close Regular Season by Visiting Purdue Northwest and Davenport

WSU will look to favorably position itself within the league standings before the GLIAC Tournament.

DETROIT -- The No. 25-ranked Wayne State University men's tennis team will finish its regular season on the road at Purdue Northwest and Davenport. WSU will play PNW in Griffith, Ind., and the Match Point Tennis Facility at 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday, April 19, before the Warriors and Panthers square off at the MVP SportsPlex in Grand Rapids. Mich., at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 20.

The Green and Gold recently completed a four-match home stand in which the squad went 3-1, with victories over Lake Superior State (6-1), Michigan Tech (7-0), and #36-Grand Valley State (4-3). WSU's narrow 4-3 loss to Ferris State last Sunday in its most recent contest put the team at 11-9 for the season, with a 3-1 GLIAC ledger.

Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) was named GLIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the fourth time in 2024 after downing two nationally-ranked opponents in his singles matchups against GVSU and FSU.

LEAGUE OUTLOOK
Wayne State's home defeat to the Bulldogs put Ferris State in control of the race for the GLIAC Regular-Season Championship. However, the race is not over yet, and the Warriors will look to claim a pair of wins to have a chance at the title themselves. With FSU at 4-0 in the conference and WSU at 3-1, the Warriors will need to win out and have the the Bulldogs lose at least one of their two matches (vs. Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State) to stay alive for the championship.

Coincidentally, LSSU is also 3-1 in the league and has the same opportunity as Wayne State to claim a piece of the trophy. Earning the top spot in the conference is critical for seeding purposes as well, with the No. 1 seed for the GLIAC Tournament also at stake. Six teams (out of the seven programs) will qualify for the conference tournament, which will be held inside the Greater Midland Tennis Center beginning on April 26. Below are the league standings heading into this weekend's action.

1. Ferris State (4-0)
T-2. Wayne State (3-1)
T-2. Lake Superior State (3-1)
4. Grand Valley State (2-2)
5. Purdue Northwest (2-3)
6. Davenport (1-4)
7. Michigan Tech (0-4)

NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA released its first edition of its Regional Rankings yesterday afternoon on Wednesday, April 17. A total of 10 programs were included for the Midwest Region on the men's side, which includes the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).

For this cycle, the teams were not ranked in order, but merely included in alphabetical order. Wayne State was one of the 10 squads included on the list for the Midwest, joining Drury (GLVC), Ferris State (GLIAC), Findlay (G-MAC), Grand Valley State (GLIAC), Hillsdale (G-MAC), Lake Superior State (GLIAC), McKendree (GLVC), Tiffin (G-MAC), and Indianapolis (GLVC). That makes four GLIAC programs, along with three G-MAC and GLVC schools in the top 10.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released another round of Division II rankings yesterday on Wednesday, April 17. Included were the 10th round of National Rankings and the seventh rounds of National Singles and Doubles Rankings for the current campaign. The Warriors appeared in 25th in the nation this week by the computerized rankings, which was down three positions from last week's rankings on April 10. Nonetheless, WSU was still the highest-ranked school in its conference, just ahead of Ferris State in 26th and Grand Valley State in 42nd.

Individually, Daniel Grey jumped five spots from eighth to third in singles, which was his best ranking of the campaign. Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) appeared in 10th to mark the first time in 2024 that the junior has cracked the top 10 in the category. Together, Drenth and Grey remained second in doubles, while Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) and Dom Spicer (London, England) went from 11th to 21st.

The next round of computerized rankings will be revealed by the ITA on Wednesday, April 24. Those will be the final round of rankings prior to postseason action. The new rankings provided by the ITA can be found HERE, or in the links at the top of the page.

AT PURDUE NORTHWEST (4/19)
Purdue Northwest has posted a 12-7 mark this season ahead of its final regular-season matchup on Friday with the Warriors. That includes a 6-4 home ledger for the Pride, but PNW has not hosted a match there since a 7-0 defeat at the hands of Ferris State on March 23.

WSU has won all five of its contests against Purdue Northwest dating back to the 2017-18 season (when PNW joined the GLIAC), including a 7-0 shutout victory last season on April 15. The Warriors are 2-0 on the road versus the Pride, with triumphs of 6-1 on March 25, 2022, and 7-2 on March 25, 2018.

PNW is coached by Selenay Heper in her first season. Heper was hired to lead the program just over two months ago on February 14. She is assisted by Richard Kitchell.

AT DAVENPORT (4/20)
Wayne State will complete its regular season on Saturday against the 11-12 Panthers. Davenport fell 7-0 to Lake Superior State in its most recent match on April 13 and are 2-7 at home this season, with wins against Calvin (6-1) back in September and against Lawrence Tech (4-3) in mid-February.

WSU is 6-1 all-time against DU since the Panthers joined the conference in 2017-18. The Green and Gold have won six consecutive matches over Davenport since a 5-4 loss in the first all-time meeting on March 24, 2018.

Patrick Grashorn is in his 14th season as head coach of the Panthers. He is assisted by Lewie DeGeneault and Jonathan Bulmer.

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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