PREVIEW: Huskies face Northwood in GLIAC Quarterfinals

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HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech women's tennis qualified for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament for the eighth time in program history this week. Tech will be the No. 5 seed in the eight-team bracket in Midland, Michigan. The Huskies (4-8, 4-4 GLIAC) will face No. 4 seed Northwood (10-7, 7-2 GLIAC) on Friday in the quarterfinals at the Greater Midland Tennis Center. Losing teams in the first round will play again in consolation. Winners advance to the semifinals Saturday with the Championship set for Sunday. 

The Huskies fell 6-1 to the Timberwolves in Midland on April 10. At the time, Northwood snapped Michigan Tech's three-match win streak. Sophomore Neva Manas mustered a win at No. 4 singles but Tech came up short at every other position and lost two of three doubles sets.

BY THE NUMBERS: Despite the Huskies 4-8 overall record, Freshman Marina Fernandez (Reus, Spain) and sophomore Neva Manas (Carmel, Indiana) have .500 or better singles records. 

Fernandez downed Patricia Gomez from Ferris State 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5 singles on April 17 in perhaps her best match of the season. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 16 in the nation. She compiled a 6-6 singles record playing a combination of No. 4 and No. 5, adjusts well at the baseline, and finds ways to make her opponent uncomfortable to win points.

Manas is 9-3 in singles this spring (4-2 at No. 3 and 5-1 at No. 4). She bested Northwood's Vasilisa Mikhaylova during the regular season and has three 6-0 set wins over all opponents.

Royal Oak, Michigan junior Ivona Gorgioski posted a 7-9 singles record in 2019-20 and was named first team all-GLIAC. This year, Gorgioski is 3-5 playing No. 1 singles and 3-5 in doubles, playing primarily with Manas. 

Overall, the Huskies are 26-43 in singles (.377) and 6-27 (.182) in doubles. Tech took one of three doubles matches (No. 2) in the first meeting of the year with Northwood and will likely need to take the team doubles point to have a chance at reversing their fortunes in the quarterfinals.

SCOUTING THE TIMBERWOLVES: Northwood lost five of six non-conference matches to begin the spring but stormed back to finish 7-2 in the GLIAC. Most recently, the Timberwolves defeated Davenport 7-0 on the road without dropping a set in singles or doubles.

Traverse City senior Amanda Bandrowski holds a 12-5 record at No. 1 singles and a 7-3 record in doubles with senior Elizaveta Velichko (Sochi, Russia). Northwood is primarily composed of eastern European players with four Russia natives, one Ukrainian, and one Greek. Northwood holds a 65-37 (.637) singles mark and is 27-24 (.529) in doubles.

Head Coach Mike Rose was named head coach in May, 2020, and replaced 46-year head coach Zane Colestock. Northwood improved greatly from its 6-12 finish in 2019-20. The Timberwolves made a run to the GLIAC Championship in 2018-19, including a win over Michigan Tech in the semifinals.