Wayne State University Athletics

Freshman Luke Laws received the Match Ball for going 2-0 vs. the Dragons.

Men's Tennis 2/12/2020 4:00:00 PM Lauren Bryne, Sports Information Graduate Intern

Men's Tennis Sweeps Tiffin 7-0 in Home-Opener

WSU tallied its third consecutive win this season.

CLINTON TWP., Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's tennis squad (3-0 overall) blanked Tiffin (1-4 overall), 7-0, in its home-opening match at the Peachtree Tennis Club on Wednesday.

DOUBLES RESULTS
The No. 2 doubles duo of sophomore David Solar (Prague, Czech Republic) and freshman Dom Spicer (London, England) was first off the courts after nearly sweeping Gabriel de Oliveira and Hugo Chatras, 6-1.

"No. 2 doubles played lights out," commented head coach Bryan Morrow. "They served great, returned really well, and never gave their opponents a chance in that match. It was quick and very well done."

Strong serves from junior co-captain Niklas Karcz (Bottrop, Germany) and freshman Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) helped the pair secure the WSU doubles point, winning 6-4 at the first flight vs. Michael Gurtner and Nikita Parfenov.

"Niklas and Luke started strong as they have so far all year," remarked Morrow. "They had a little lapse in the middle of the set, but finished strong. Niklas had a great day serving. The pair was a little off energy-wise, but pulled out a nice match for us as a whole."

At No. 3 doubles, senior co-captain Pierre Renaudie (Sathonay-Camp, France) and sophomore Max Rink (Wetzlar, Germany) notched a 7-5 victory over Austin Mohamedali and Matthew Telford.

"No. 3 doubles was a battle," Morrow stated. "Max had to slide in and he has not played doubles in the lineup yet this year. I think that he started a little nervous, but got better as the match went on. I am happy with their performance, as they came back and pulled out a nice win for us."

SINGLES RESULTS
Laws was first to finish after sweeping Oliveira in the second set (6-2, 6-0) at No. 5 singles.

"Luke wins 2-0 again," exclaimed Morrow. "With his strength and the way he plays, Luke has a game that nobody is used to. His serving and volleying is as good as I have seen, and players do not know how to react to him. Luke is becoming a very well-rounded, strong player in our lineup, as well as one of our best doubles players."

Renaudie won his No. 2 doubles match vs. Gurtner by default after winning his first set 6-4 and leading 3-1 in the second set.

"Pierre played a really tricky and awkward player," Morrow stated. "His opponent had a lot of good, tough shots. Pierre pulled out a nice first set and was winning in the second, when his opponent unfortunately got hurt and had to withdraw."

Solid serving assisted Karcz to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Parfenov at No. 1 singles.

"Niklas pulled out a straight-set match," recalled Morrow. "It was a typical Niklas match. He typically never has any lows and plays a solid match the whole way through. His opponents don't really have answers for him."

At No. 3 singles, Rink served up a 6-2, 6-4 win against Telford.

"Max had another great day of serving," said Morrow. "He looked more comfortable on the court today and was hitting his groundstrokes better than he has been so far this year. Max had a little blip in the second set and fell behind, but then came storming back and finished the set really strong with three-straight games to win, including two breaks in there."

After a second-set tiebreaker, Solar tallied a 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) win versus Tom Blaquiere at No. 6 singles.

"Last year, David lost to Tiffin in a third-set tiebreaker," recalled Morrow. "He won the first set comfortably today, but started thinking about that in the second set and was possibly worried about what happened last season. David pulled through though. Even though he had some match points that he did not finish, he still did what he needed to do to win the match. David gutted out and fought a bit of nerves, but found a way to win."

Spicer was last off the courts after making a comeback vs. Chatras at No. 4 singles. He fell 7-6 (7-5) in a first set tiebreaker, but notched a second-set victory (6-2). After trailing in the super tiebreaker, Spicer came back to win 12-10.

"Dom faced a couple of match points against him," Morrow commented. His opponent was very difficult to play, unpredictable, and would hit what is not the right shot at times. Serving-wise, his opponent would go for two first serves. Dom did a great job as a freshman, staying in there to battle it out and sticking to his game plan. I am really proud of the way that he competed."

WARRIOR STRONG
Laws was chosen to receive the Match Ball following wins at both No. 1 doubles and No. 5 singles.

"It is challenging to choose one player when your team is playing well and you are winning comfortably," stated Morrow. "Seven guys could have gotten the Match Ball today. I chose Luke because of how well he played at doubles again and because of the efficiency that he is playing at singles."

UP NEXT
Wayne State will travel to Lewis on Friday, Feb. 14th, for a 12:00 PM (ET) match.

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Players Mentioned

Niklas Karcz: 5' 9"; Junior

Luke Laws: 5' 10"; Freshman

Pierre Renaudie: 5' 10"; Senior

Max Rink: 6' 3"; Sophomore

David Solar: 6' 4"; Sophomore

Dom Spicer: 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Niklas Karcz
: 5' 9"; Junior

Luke Laws
: 5' 10"; Freshman

Pierre Renaudie
: 5' 10"; Senior

Max Rink
: 6' 3"; Sophomore

David Solar
: 6' 4"; Sophomore

Dom Spicer
: 5' 11"; Freshman