SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University men's and women's tennis teams opened their three-match Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) homestand this weekend with matches against Purdue Northwest on Friday, April 15 and Davenport on Saturday, April 16. The men's team earned a 7-0 win against the Pride on Friday and followed with a 4-3 loss to the Panthers on Saturday. The women's team opened the weekend with a 7-0 victory over Purdue Northwest and followed with an identical 7-0 win on Saturday against Davenport.
Friday, April 15 vs. Purdue Northwest:
The men's team opened the day of competition by securing the doubles point after winning two of the three matches against the Pride. The Lakers second pair of Diego Penz and Xavier Vicent Navarro won by a score of 6-3 while the team's third pair of Krishan Taneja and Logan Brown won by a score of 6-4.
In singles play, No. 1 singles player Juho Kantola won his set in a decisive third set against his Pride opponent. Kantola won the opening set by a score of 6-3, fell in the second set by a 6-3 score and clinched the singles win in the final set by a 6-2 margin. The other five singles sets were each won in two sets by the Lakers. Vicent Navarro won the No. 2 match by scores of 6-3 and 6-4, Taneja won the No. 3 match by scores of 6-1 and 6-2, Aaron Osmond won the No. 4 match by scores of 6-0 and 6-2, Ali Sahibzada won the No. 5 match by scores of 6-1 and 6-0, and Penz capped off the Laker win with 6-2 and 6-4 scores in the No. 6 match.
The women's team also won two of the three doubles matches against the Pride to secure the doubles point. The Lakers second pair of Muskaan Ranjan and Maddie Whip won by a 6-1 score and the team's third pair of Julia Fraile Raton and Claudia Sole won their match by a 6-3 final score.
The top singles match ended in the first set by retirement as Nadege Koua took the point for the Lakers. In the No. 2 singles match, Maddie Whip won in three sets after dropping the opening set by a score of 6-3. Whip followed with a second set win of 6-3 and clinched the point in the decisive third set by a 10-8 score. The final four singles sets were each decided in two sets by the Lakers. Milena Baigorria won the No. 3 singles match by scores of 6-1 and 7-5, Muskaan Ranjan won the No. 4 singles set by scores of 6-1 and 7-5, Claudia Sole won the No. 5 set by scores of 6-1 and 6-0, and Julia Fraile Raton won by scores of 6-1 and 6-0 in the No. 6 match.
Saturday, April 16 vs Davenport:
The men's team dropped the doubles point to the Panthers to open Saturday's match. The Lakers third pair of Krishan Taneja and Ali Sahibzada won their match by a 6-2 score but Davenport won the other two matches.
In singles play, Kantola clinched the Lakers a point in the top singles match with a three set win over Quintan van Wijk. Kantola won the opening set 6-4, dropped the second set by a 6-3 score and won the last set by a 6-1 score. Aaron Osmond who played in the No. 4 spot for the Lakers won his match in two sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. Sahibzada won the No. 5 match in two sets for the Lakers by scores of 6-4 and 7-5.
Davenport won the remaining three sets which included the No. 2 match (Vicent Navarro), the No. 3 match (Krishan Taneja), and the No. 6 match (Diego Penz) to take the conference win by a 4-3 final score.
The women's team won all three doubles matches against the Panthers to record the match's first point. The Lakers top pair of Milena Baigorria and Nadege Koua won by a score of 6-3, and the team's second pair of Muskaan Ranjan and Maddie Whip won by a 6-2 score. In the final doubles match, the Lakers third pair of Julia Fraile Raton and Claudia Sole won by 7-5 score.
In singles play, Koua earned a two-set win in the top singles match with scores of 6-1 and 6-4. Whip posted a win in the No. 2 singles match with a 6-1 victory in the opening set and a 6-1 score in the decisive third set. Milena Baigorria won the No. 3 match by scores of 6-4 and 6-0, Muskaan Ranjan won the No. 4 match by scores of 6-1 and 6-1, Claudia Sole won the No. 5 match by scores of 6-1 and 6-1, and Julia Fraile Raton clinched the seventh point with scores of 6-2 and 6-1 in the No. 6 match for the Lakers.
What's Next
The Lakers will host the Michigan Tech Huskies next Saturday, April 23 in the Arbuckle Student Activity Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The match will start at 9:00 a.m. with the men's team playing first.
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