Jessica Brown

Huskies Fall to Grand Valley State at GLIAC Tournament

MIDLAND, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's tennis team fell to Grand Valley State University in the third place match of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sunday at the Greater Midland Tennis Center. The Huskies wrapped up a solid fall schedule with an overall record of 9-4 and 7-2 mark in conference play, good for third place in the regular season standings. Tech opened the tournament on Friday with a 4-0 win over Lake Superior State and finished fourth at the tournament.

"This is a match that we were in and are disappointed we couldn't pull out the victory, but once again our players gave a great effort against a good and experienced Grand Valley State team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "I thought we competed hard and our players stepped up with some solid individual performances not only in the tournament, but during our fall season. Overall, I'm really happy with what we were able to accomplish this fall and have put ourselves in a good position to challenge for a spot in the national tournament this spring. We'll focus on the spring season ahead and are excited about getting back on the court in February."

Michigan Tech battled hard in doubles Sunday and got an outstanding performance from senior Vicky Quinde and freshman Samantha Johnson in the No. 2 doubles spot. The duo was matched up against Madison Ballard and Nicole Heiniger of Grand Valley State and rolled to a 6-1 victory to help keep the Huskies in contention for a doubles point.

Unfortunately, Grand Valley State (10-2) was able to get wins in both the No. 1 and No. 3 spots in the doubles lineup. Vera Griva and Marily Canellopoulos slipped past sophomore Ivona Gorgioski and freshman Jessica Brown 6-1 in the No. 1 spot while Livia Christman and Marija Leko got by senior Allenca Rolim and freshman Mirna Golac in the No. 3 spot 6-2.

In singles, each match was tightly contested with the outcomes hanging in the balance all the way to the end. Brown competed hard in No. 2 singles and recorded a great win against Ballard to earn the Huskies a point. Brown edged Ballard 7-5 in the first set and kept her at bay in the second set to seal the win with a 6-3 decision.

Golac challenged Heiniger all the way to the final point in No. 5 singles, but came up just short 6-4, 7-6. Golac stayed with Heiniger step for step in the first set and then nearly pushed the contest into a third set, if not for a tiebreaker win by Heiniger. Quinde kept things close in No. 4 singles, but Christman was able to sneak past with a 6-2, 6-4 win. In No. 6 singles, junior Anabella Neri faced Olivia Hanover who ended up getting a 6-1, 6-2 decision in the Lakers favor. Gorgioski and Johnson were locked in to close matches in the No. 1 and No. 3 singles spots that went unfinished due to GVSU reaching the fourth point.

The Huskies will be back on the court for the spring season beginning in late February when they take on Tiffin at the Lakewood Racquet Club in Lexington, Ohio on the 22nd. Tech will travel to Hillsdale the next day before battling UW-Green Bay on the road March 3rd. The Huskies then travel south for the annual Spring Tennis Fest in Hilton Head, S.C March 8-16.