ORLANDO, Fla. -- The No. 14-ranked Wayne State University men's tennis team (8-2) earned a hard-fought victory over No. 13-ranked Rollins College (7-5).  The win improves WSU's record to 8-2 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED
DOUBLES
The Green and Gold struggled in doubles competition, falling in all three matches.

In the No. 1 position, Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany / Altkönigschule Kronberg) and George Day (Southampton, United Kingdom / Peter Symonds College) fell 7-5 to the duo of Fabian Gusic and Moritz Anterist.  The WSU student-athletes held a 5-4 lead, before the Rollins pairing won in three consecutive games to earn the victory.

Sam Knowles (North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England / King's Priory School) and Tom Wasner (Altenholz, Germany / Friedrichsort Community School) competed against Nicolas de Giacomo and Luke Quaynor in the No. 2 slot.  Quaynor and de Giacomo topped the two Warriors 6-2.

Despite being tied twice (1-1, 2-2), Benjamin Hill (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany / Burgau-Gymnasium) and Luis Klaus (Brühl, Germany / Archbishop's St. Ursula gymnasium [TH Köln]) were defeated by Richard Stoiberer and Pietro Cappellaro 6-3 while battling in the No. 3 doubles spot.

SINGLES
Drenth set the tone early for the singles competition, earning an impressive 6-1, 6-0 victory over Quaynor in the No. 1 singles position.

Day and Hill triumphed as well in the No. 2 and No. 4 positions.  Day won in a competitive 6-4, 7-5 match with de Giacomo, while Hill topped Stoiberer 7-5, 7-5.

Klaus and Max Faniel (Theux, Belgium / Collège Saint-François-Xavier S.S.) were both thwarted in singles as Anterist won 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 against the graduate student, while the freshman fell to Cappellaro 6-3, 6-3.

Wasner was knotted with Gusic heading into the tie-breaker set after splitting the first two set 6-3, 4-6.  The freshman once again was involved in late-match heroics, claiming the final set 7-5 to push WSU above RC.

FROM HEAD COACH BRYAN MORROW
"Incredible match.  We did not pay well in doubles.  We were unable to execute as they took it to us, sweeping us in doubles competition.  In singles, at every court, we just came out and gave it everything that we had.  These guys showed some incredible heart, handling adversity, dealing with a lot going on around them.  Cedric (Drenth) started things by getting the first point on the board for us, and then Ben (Hill) closing out his match, followed by both George (Day) and Tom (Wasner), I mean holy cow, what a way to handle pressure.  These guys are very impressive.  I could not be happier or more proud.  This was a big win for the Warriors."

UP NEXT
The Wayne State men's tennis squad will next compete on Sunday, March 9, as the Green and Gold are set to face Embry-Riddle at the Crotty Tennis Complex, with the first match scheduled for 11:00 AM.