HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) men's tennis team (4-3) had a successful trip at the 2024 PTR Spring Tennis Fest, coming away with victories over both Assumption and Barton by respective scores of 4-3 and 4-1 before falling in competitive 5-2 and 4-3 matchups against North Carolina Wesleyan and Tiffin.
The Lakers took control early on in their match against the Assumption Greyhounds (4-9) on Monday, cruising to a 3-0 sweep in doubles. Lluc Limongi Ollers (Mallorca, Spain) and Stefan Andrei (Galati, Romania) would then power their way to win convincingly at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches by respective scores of 6-3, 6-2 and 6-3, 6-1 to push the Greyhounds to the brink. The Greyhounds were able to fight back with victories over Maxence Hamon (Montreal, Que.), Jordi Fraile Raton (Sant Cugat, Spain), and Raul Velasco Garcia (Barcelona, Spain) in incredibly close matches that combined to require a pair of third set super-tiebreakers as well as two standard tiebreakers in order to award a set victory. However, Driss Sedrati (Casablanca, Morocco) was able to close out the win for his team with a 6-4, 6-1 victory at the No. 6 spot.
The Lakers carried their momentum into a Tuesday morning bout with the Barton Bulldogs (0-5), once again sweeping doubles play for the early 1-0 advantage. Ollers and Andrei would then go on to win the top two singles matches before Sedrati clinched his second match in as many days with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles.
LSSU faced their first setback in the Palmetto State against North Carolina Wesleyan, falling by a margin of 5-2. The Lakers were still able to come out on top in a pair of matches on the day with Andrei and Sedrati continuing their hot streak in their first season wearing a Laker uniform. Andrei claimed a 7-5, 6-2 win in the No. 2 singles match while Sedrati was the victor of a 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 battle at No. 6.
The Lakers were able to bounce back in doubles play the next day, taking an early 1-0 lead over regional foe, the Tiffin Dragons (7-4), with the pairings of Sedrati/Fraile and Velasco/Ollers securing the early advantage. Andrei would then wrap up an undefeated trip individually with a 6-4, 6-4 win at the No. 2 spot to go a perfect 4-4 on the week. LSSU was then able to get a strong, three-set victory from Velasco. However, the Dragons managed to claim victories in the remaining four singles matches to steal the match overall.
The Lakers will now turn their attention to conference play when they host the Michigan Tech Huskies on Saturday, March 30 with the first serve scheduled for 10 a.m.