Men's Tennis 4/25/2024 11:15:00 AM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis to Begin Postseason Journey at GLIAC Tournament

The Warriors will attempt to defend their tournament titles from 2023 and 2022 this weekend in Midland.

DETROIT -- The No. 18-ranked Wayne State University men's tennis squad will play in the GLIAC Tournament this weekend at the Greater Midland Tennis Center in Midland, Mich. The Warriors, after earning a bye in the first round, will see the court on Saturday in the semifinals against either #37-Grand Valley State or Davenport beginning at 3 p.m.

WSU will then look to play for a GLIAC Tournament Championship on Sunday at 3 p.m., which follows women's championship action scheduled for 10 a.m. The team received its bye after finishing second behind Ferris State in the regular-season league standings.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Six programs in the seven-team GLIAC qualified for this weekend's tournament, including FSU (6-0 in the league), WSU (5-1), Grand Valley State (4-2), Lake Superior State (3-3), Purdue Northwest (2-4), and Davenport (1-5).

The Bulldogs' 4-3 win over the Warriors on April 14 in Detroit proved to be the deciding factor for the event's top seed, but both squad's received a bye in the first round regardless and will not play on the opening day. Ferris State will face the winner of LSSU and PNW, while the Green and Gold will square off with the winner of GVSU and DU. Those two contests are scheduled for Friday in Midland.

The Warriors have won back-to-back and three of the past four conference tournaments (2019, 2022, 2023), with the 2020 event not held due to COVID-19. WSU swept both the regular season and tournament titles in 2019 and 2022, but claimed the championship last season as a two seed. The program is in the same position once again this campaign.

Should the Green and Gold meet the Bulldogs on Sunday, it would be a re-match from last season's championship contest. Wayne State collected a 4-0 shutout for the triumph.

HOW THEY MADE IT HERE
Wayne State finished the regular season at 13-9, but all nine losses were to programs that were nationally ranked - including Indianapolis (twice), Barry (twice), West Florida, Rollins, Flagler, Embry-Riddle, and Ferris State. Some of the signature victories during the slate were a 4-3 triumph at Division I Toledo, a 4-1 win against #15-Washburn, and another 4-1 victory vs. #6-UIndy, which was the team's first triumph over the Greyhounds since 2012.

The Green and Gold also secured a strong 10-3 mark within the Midwest Region, which is important in the quest to host a regional once again in 2024. Wayne State also managed a 9-1 mark in 10 home matchups.

Leading the way in singles for the Warriors was Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) and his 18-2 record in dual matches, including 17-1 at the No. 2 position. Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) recorded an impressive 16-5 mark against each opponents' best players at the top flight, and his 17 total spring victories (17-5) was second most on the team. Both Drenth and Grey completed a perfect 6-0 season within the GLIAC for the category.

Other singles records include Dom Spicer's (London, England) 10-8 ledger to be the third Warrior with at least 10 triumphs this spring. Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark) was 8-4, Denali Kitayama (West Bloomfield Township, Mich. / Walled Lake Central (United States Air Force Academy)) was 9-9, and Benjamin Hill (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) went 6-10 in his first collegiate campaign.

Grey and Drenth tallied a 15-7 ledger in doubles, while Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) and Spicer totaled a 13-7 record. Every match for both pairings were at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively. Head Coach Bryan Morrow utilized several duos at the third flight, with three tandems playing five matches at the spot.

NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA released its second edition of Regional Rankings yesterday afternoon on Wednesday, April 24. 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).

This cycle had teams ranked for the first time, as last week's list was merely in alphabetical order. Wayne State is third behind Indianapolis (GLVC) and Ferris State (GLIAC). The rest of the top 10 in order includes Drury (GLVC), McKendree (GLVC), Tiffin (G-MAC), Grand Valley State (GLIAC), Findlay (G-MAC), Purdue Northwest (GLIAC), and Lake Superior State (GLIAC).

The top two programs will host a portion of the NCAA Midwest Regionals. The selection show for Division II Men's Tennis will be on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 6, with men's regional action slated for Monday, May 13, and Tuesday, May 14.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released another round of Division II rankings yesterday on Wednesday, April 24. Included were the 11th round of National Rankings and the eighth rounds of National Singles and Doubles Rankings for the current campaign. Wayne State improved seven spots this week to 18th in the country from where it was last time on April 17 (25th). That keeps WSU as the highest-ranked program in the conference, ahead of both Ferris State in 25th and Grand Valley State in 37th.

Individually, the same pair of Warriors appeared on the rankings for singles. Daniel Grey remained in the top five despite falling from third to fifth this week, while Cedric Drenth dropped four position to 14th from 10th. Grey and Drenth together continued to be second in the doubles rankings - the third straight week in which that was the case. Luke Laws and Dom Spicer went from 21st to 25th in the category.

These were the last round of computerized rankings for over a month. The next edition will not be released by the ITA until the postseason has been completed on May 29. All new rankings provided by the ITA can be found HERE.

Print Friendly Version

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