SAULT STE MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University men's and women's tennis teams opened their spring season on Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5. The men's team posted a 4-3 win over Cornerstone in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Friday night at the Grand Rapids Racquet Club. The men's team followed with a 4-3 loss to Lawrence Tech on Saturday evening while the women's team opened their season with a 5-0 win over the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils on Saturday at the Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield, Mich.
On Friday night, the Lakers clinched the doubles point as all three doubles pairs recorded wins in their matches. LSSU's top pair of Juho Kantola/Harris Rehan won by a score of 6-4, the second pair of Aaron Osmond/Ali Sahibzada won by a score of 6-2, and the team's third pairing of Xavier Vicent Navarro/Diego Penz won by a 6-3 score.
In singles play, Kantola, the Lakers No. 1 singles player, won in two sets by scores of 6-0 and 7-6. Krishan Taneja, playing in the No. 3 singles spot, also won in two sets as he posted scores of 6-1 and 6-2 over his opponent. Penz, who played in the match as the team's No. 6 player, gave the Lakers their fourth point over Cornerstone as he won in two sets by scores of 6-2 and 7-5.
Against Lawrence Tech, the Lakers dropped the doubles point as only the team's top pair of Kantola and Rehan won their match.
Kantola recorded his second singles victory of the weekend as he defeated LTU's Alex Tammaro in two sets (6-3, 6-4). Sahibzada, playing in the No. 5 spot, won his match in two sets (6-2, 6-4). Rehan earned the team's third point against the Blue Devils as he won his match in three sets by scores of 2-6, 6-4, and 10-4. The Lakers No. 2, 3, and 4 singles players each fell in two sets to their Blue Devil opponents.
In their first competition of the season, the women's team swept the doubles competition with all three pairs winning their matches. The Lakers top pair of Nadege Koua/Muskaan Ranjan won by a score of 6-4 while the second pair of Claudia Sole/Maddie Whip recorded a 6-2 victory. The Lakers third pairing of Riley Gilman/Julie Fraile Raton won in a tiebreaker as the Lakers took the doubles point.
Koua won her singles match against a tough Lawrence Tech opponent in Olga Aliagas Mejina in a decisive third set. Koua fell in the first set by a score of 6-4 but came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker. Koua clinched the win with a 10-7 score in the third set.
In the team's No. 2 singles spot, Ranjan earned a point for the Lakers with a two set win as she recorded scores of 6-3 and 6-1 in the match win. Sole, playing in the No. 3 singles spot, also won in two sets for the Lakers (6-1, 6-2). Fraile Raton won the No. 5 singles match-up by scores of 7-5 and 6-2 to earn the team's fifth point against Lawrence Tech.
What's Next
Looking ahead, both teams will continue their non-conference seasons on the road next weekend as the teams are scheduled to take on Findlay on Friday, Feb. 11 and Tiffin on Saturday, Feb. 12.
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