The Ferris men’s tennis team is riding an 11-game winning streak after defeating rival Grand Valley State University by a score of 7-2 Saturday, March 31.
The Bulldogs now sit with a 14-2 record overall while leading the charge in the GLIAC with an unbeaten 4-0 mark. After dropping two of their first five games on the year, it has been all business for the Bulldogs since.
“Overall, we’ve felt decent so far. We have managed to get on a nice win streak and build some momentum leading into conference but I think that we’re all well aware that there’s still some extra gears for us to push into,” senior Simon Levy said.
The Bulldogs have hit their stride at the perfect time as the team has five games remaining on their conference schedule before beginning the GLIAC tournament in the latter half of April. The Bulldogs currently sit atop the GLIAC standings, just ahead of Davenport University, who also sits with an undefeated 3-0 conference record.
Ferris is set to play Davenport at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, at the Ferris Racquet and Fitness Center. This matchup against the Panthers is just one of the many tough games ahead.
“The next couple of weeks of conference play will be critical. There’s a lot of work left to get done but our focus is to continue building on this momentum by getting our job done and to time our peak for end of season when it starts to come down the tournament, regionals and nationals,” Levy said.
Though the success has become something to expect out of the program, this year, the Bulldogs have been excelling while also taking the challenge of a new head coach at the helm in Daniel Hangstefer.
Hangstefer, who had a wealth of success in the last few years at Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado, has helped the team make the adjustment quickly, preaching hard work and discipline to his team.
“Coach Hangstefer has brought a whole new dynamic to the team by focusing a lot more on the idea of discipline. If I could sum up his philosophy in a single quote it would be: ‘success starts with being disciplined in the little things,’” Levy said. “Obviously, it’s never easy undergoing such a drastic change in coaching styles, especially after having so much success but I think the team is slowly but surely starting to adjust.”
The Bulldogs return to action on Friday, April 6, in Ohio where they play in a neutral site game against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The game start time is yet to be announced.
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