Huskies Stumble at Grand Valley State

GRANDVILLE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's tennis team fell on the road to Grand Valley State Friday night 9-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. The Huskies competed in their first match since returning from the annual spring break trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina.

"I thought our guys competed hard against a very good Grand Valley State team tonight," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "Grand Valley State is a very experienced team and they played a solid match. We'll look to regroup as we get set to face Ferris State on Saturday."

Michigan Tech (0-5, 0-1 GLIAC) faced a tough Grand Valley State (9-4, 1-0 GLIAC) team to open a three match weekend Friday night. The Huskies battled hard but fell behind 3-0 through the doubles portion of the match. The scores were 8-2 in favor of the Lakers in all three spots of the lineup.

Freshman Simon Xiong competed hard in the No. 4 singles spot, challenging Nicholas Urban of Grand Valley State. Urban took a quick lead with a 6-0 win in set one before Xiong picked up two points in the second set to keep things close. However, Urban eventually prevailed with a 6-2 win in the second set. In the No. 6 spot in the lineup, Illiya Chibirev faced Alex Lescoulie and notched two points in the first and one in the second, but it wasn't enough to stop Lescoulie.

The Huskies will look to bounce back on Saturday morning when they travel to Ferris State for a GLIAC match beginning at 10 a.m. Tech will then head to Northwood on Sunday at 11 a.m. to wrap up the weekend road trip.

Grand Valley State 9, Michigan Tech 0
Mar 23, 2018 at Grandville, Mich. (Premier Athletic & Tennis Club)

Singles competition
1. Sebastien Lescoulie (GV) def. Mario Neto (MTU) 6-1, 6-0
2. Jack Geissler (GV) def. Nico Caviglia (MTU) 6-1, 6-0
3. A. van de Steenoven (GV) def. Ignacio Carbajosa (MTU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Nicholas Urban (GV) def. Simon Xiong (MTU) 6-0, 6-2
5. DJ Colantone (GV) def. Juan Felipe Chica (MTU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Alex Lescoulie (GV) def. Illiya Chibirev (MTU) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. A. van de Steenoven/Sebastien Lescoulie (GV) def. Mario Neto/Ignacio Carbajosa (MTU) 8-2
2. Jack Geissler/DJ Colantone (GV) def. Simon Xiong/Nico Caviglia (MTU) 8-2
3. Drew Coleman/Nicholas Urban (GV) def. Juan Felipe Chica/Illiya Chibirev (MTU) 8-2

Match Notes
Michigan Tech 0-4
Grand Valley State 8-4
GVSU is now 9-4
MTU is now 0-5