MIDLAND, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University men's tennis program (1-1) earned their first victory of the season with a 7-0 sweep over former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) rival, the Northwood Timberwolves (0-3) on Friday.
Both teams proved to be highly competitive early in doubles play with none of the three matchups being decided by less than two games. Jordi Fraile Raton (Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain) and Raul Velasco Garcia (Barcelona, Spain) gave the Lakers an early advantage by claiming the No. 3 doubles match by a score of 6-4, but the Timberwolves were able to draw even with a tightly contested 7-6 match at the No. 2 doubles position with a tiebreaker score of 7-3. With the doubles point on the line, senior Aaron Osmond (Cheltenham, U.K.) teamed up with true freshman Maxence Hamon (Montreal, Quebec) secured a 7-5 win at the top doubles position to give the Lakers the early 1-0 lead in the match.
Velasco pushed the lead to 2-0 after taking the No. 5 singles match in straight sets, dominating the second set 6-0 after the first went the distance with a 7-2 tiebreaker needed to decide the victor. Meanwhile, Fraile earned a 7-5, 6-3 win in the No. 4 singles match to push the Timberwolves to the brink. Then, Osmond, the reigning GLIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week, secured the Lakers' first victory over the Timberwolves in program history after shaking off dropping the opening set to take complete control for the 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win in the No. 1 singles match.
Lezan Koyuncu (Cologne, Germany) grinded away a hard-fought opening set after an 11-9 tiebreaker before going on to win the No. 6 singles match by a final score of 7-6, 6-3, and Hamon bounced back from losing the first set at the No. 3 singles position to come back to win 6-7, 6-1, 1-0 [10-3] with a super-tiebreaker played in lieu of a full third set due to the overall match having been decided prior to it beginning. Meanwhile, freshman Lluc Limongi Ollers (Mallorca, Spain) rounded out the impressive team outing with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the No. 2 singles match to secure the 7-0 sweep over Northwood.
The Lakers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 11 when they take on the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils with the first serve scheduled for 4 p.m.