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Wayne State University Athletics

0
Wayne State WSUM (17-11)
4
Winner Saint Leo University SLU (24-3)
Wayne State WSUM
(17-11)
0
Final
4
Saint Leo University SLU
(24-3)
Winner
Dom Spicer
Ferris State Athletics
Graduate student Dom Spicer

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Men's Tennis Concludes Third Straight Trip to NCAA Quarterfinals With 4-0 Setback

Warriors lost to the No. 1-ranked Saint Leo Lions.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The 20th-ranked and 11th-seeded Wayne State University men's tennis team (17-11 overall) suffered a 4-0 setback to top-ranked and second-seeded Saint Leo (24-3 overall) in an NCAA Division 2 quarterfinal match on Wednesday morning at Sanlando Park.

This was WSU's third consecutive trip to the NCAA quarterfinals having finished second in 2022, and tied-for-fifth last year.

The Warriors arguably played the toughest schedule in the NCAA this season with 12 matches against teams in the top 25 (nine of those matches were against Top-10 teams), plus another seven matches against teams receiving votes.

DOUBLES
The Lions won at both first and third doubles to claim the doubles point.  WSU's third doubles pairing of seniors Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark / Soenderborg Statsskole) and Joe Steele (Beverly Hills, Mich. / U. of Detroit Jesuit) dropped a 6-1 decision.

SLU's 28th-ranked doubles tandem of Luis Iriarte and Martin Soukal upended the Warriors duo of senior Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany / Gutenberg) and junior Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany / Altkönigschule Kronberg) 6-3.  The Wayne State pair were ranked No. 1 in the country.

The 27th-ranked second doubles grouping of graduate students Luke Laws (Sunderland, England / Southmoor Academy) and Dom Spicer (London, England / Soto Tennis Academy) were leading 5-4 when the match was halted. 

SINGLES
The Lions went ahead 2-0 as Laws lost a 6-2, 6-3 decision at No. 5 singles.

Mikkelsen then fell 6-3, 6-2 at sixth singles.

Senior Denali Kitayama (West Bloomfield Township, Mich. / Walled Lake Central) lost 6-0, 7-5 at No. 4 singles, while the final three singles matches went unfinished.

Drenth, ranked No. 14, led eighth-ranked Vincent Thiel 6-2, 6-5 at second singles.

Grey, ranked No. 5, trailed 3-6, 4-3 to second-ranked Martin Soukal at No. 1 singles, while Spicer lost the first set 7-6, but led 3-2 in the second set.

WSU NOTES
Head Coach Bryan Morrow concluding his 16th season leading his alma mater with a 227-147 career record.  The men's tennis program will have to re-load for 2024-25 as graduate students Dom Spicer (2022 GLIAC Player of the Year) and Luke Laws depart ranked fourth and eighth, respectively in career singles wins and third and fifth in career doubles victories.  Senior Daniel Grey, the 2024 GLIAC Player of the Year, is the only player in school history with more than 100 career doubles wins and leaves the program ranked second in all-time singles wins with 86.  Senior Joe Steele along with transfers Emil Mikkelsen and Denali Kitayama also graduate.

The cupboard is not totally empty as junior Cedric Drenth, the 2023 GLIAC Player of the Year, returns as well as freshman Benjamin Hill.
 
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