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Wayne State University Athletics

2
Case Western Reserve CWR-M (0-1)
5
Winner Wayne State WSUM (3-1)
Case Western Reserve CWR-M
(0-1)
2
Final
5
Wayne State WSUM
(3-1)
Winner
Joe Kelt Action Shot
Joe Kelt clinched the victory for the Warriors with a three-set victory at the No. 6 singles spot.

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Wins on Home Court, 5-2, Over Case Western Reserve

The Warriors win the first of two matches played on Friday.

DETROIT, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's tennis team (3-1 overall) had another strong showing on Friday morning, defeating Division III Case Western Reserve University (0-1 overall) 5-2 inside the Duchene Athletic Facility. CWRU came into their season opener in this match as the #2-ranked team in Division III. 

DOUBLES
For the fourth consecutive match, the Warriors jumped out first and claimed the doubles point to grab an early 1-0 lead. 

All three matches were rather competitive, with two requiring a tiebreaker to decide the winning pair. Dom Spicer (London, England) and Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) did not need a tiebreaker in their set, winning by a 6-4 score over Sahil Dayal and Chris Provenzano at the No. 2 doubles spot. 

The No. 1 doubles pairing of Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) and Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) were defeated by a thin margin of 7-6 (7-5) over their opponents in James Hopper and Vishwa Aduru, who are the top-ranked duo in Division III men's tennis.

The first point came down to the action at the No. 3 spot, and the duo of Niklas Karcz (Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) and Denali Kitayama (West Bloomfield Township, Mich.) were able to come through for the Warriors with a 7-6 (7-4) victory. They did this by rallying back and scoring seven straight points in the tiebreak to overcome a four point deficit. 

SINGLES
WSU was able to keep success going in singles, winning four of the six matches.

Laws put together a strong effort and won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 4 spot..

Next to finish was Grey, who posted the exact same score in his singles match triumph at No. 2 (6-1, 6-2).

After not seeing the court in doubles play, Joe Kelt (Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England) emerged victorious in his singles match. The battle at No. 6 needed three sets, but Kelt won the first and third to give the Warriors their fourth point, enough to clinch the match for the Green and Gold. The score was 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Drenth and Hopper also needed three sets to decide their match, with Drenth falling just short in a 7-5, 2-6, 3-6 defeat at the No. 1 spot. 

Spicer and Kitayama also played close, competitive contests. Spicer lost at No. 3 by a 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 4-6 margin, while Kitayama won at the No. 5 spot, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 over his opponent from CWRU. 

FROM COACH MORROW
"We pulled out a good 5-2 win over a really strong team. No. 3 doubles [Karcz and Kitayama] showed plenty of grit and heart in coming back to win. No. 2 doubles [Spicer and Laws] played a very clean match and pulled out a win. No. 1 doubles lost in a tight tiebreaker in what was a high-level doubles. In singles, Daniel played perhaps his most complete match he has all year by not giving his opponent many good looks. Luke was the same way in winning his match at No. 4 singles. Could not be prouder of the boys. They showed tons of heart against a really good team and the young guys really stepped up for us." 

UP NEXT
Wayne State will play the second game of the day Friday against Northwestern Ohio. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m.


 
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