With the regular season coming to a close after their matches against Wayne State, the Ferris State men’s and women’s tennis teams look to go deep in the GLIAC Tournament.
Head coach Mark Doren knows his team has what it takes to make a run.
“With both teams looking to be a top 2 seed, there will be high expectations to make a run to the championship match,” Doren said. “Both teams have been practicing hard and are excited to finish the season strong.”
Women
Ferris State (12-6, 6-1 in GLIAC) comes into the conference tournament on a four-match win streak to end the season. The Bulldogs beat Michigan Tech 5-2, then took down Roosevelt and Purdue Northwest 6-1, before beating Wayne State 5-2 to end the regular season.
Ferris ends conference play with a 6-1 record, with its one loss being 7-0 against Grand Valley.
Grand Valley won the regular-season conference championship with a 7-0 conference record. The Bulldogs were in second with a 6-1 record, followed by Davenport in third at 5-2. In fourth place is Wayne State at 4-3, with Michigan Tech in fifth at 3-4, and in sixth is Saginaw Valley State at 2-5. At 1-6 and 0-7 respectively.
Freshman Ainzley Zulueta is incredibly excited for her first time in the conference tournament.
“I don’t think any words from me can really describe the excitement going into this tournament,” Zulueta said. “Just the chance to get a ring, gain redemption from previous losses, and prove our skills once again against teams we’ve faced before is so exciting. From what I know, this is one of the best seasons we’ve had so far in a while, so just being able to be a part of it means a lot. Earlier today, the seniors on the team were talking about how they didn’t make it to the conference tournament their freshman year. Compare that to now, where we’re now fighting for the second seed for the tournament, which is so crazy. To put it short, I am extremely excited.”
Men
The Bulldogs (15-3, 6-0 in GLIAC) ended the season on a six-match win streak, all against conference opponents. To close out March, Ferris State beat Davenport 7-0 and Grand Valley 5-2. They then went 5-0 in April, beating Michigan Tech and Purdue Northwest 6-1, Roosevelt 7-0 on senior night and then beating Wayne State 4-3 to secure the regular-season conference championship for the 22nd time in program history.
Sophomore Jose Perez is confident in both himself and the team for the conference tournament.
“I can’t wait for the conference tournament coming up soon,” Perez said. “Our team has had really good results so far this season, and I’m confident that we can win the tournament based on how everyone is playing right now. It also means a lot for our seniors because of how good our chances are to win, and we want to make it a special last season for them. We’ll make sure to bring a lot of energy, play as a team, and leave everything on the court so we can come home with a ring.”
Ferris State won the conference with a 6-0 conference record, with Grand Valley in second with a 5-1 record. Wayne State is in third with a 4-2 record in the conference. Purdue Northwest is fourth with a 3-3 record, with Davenport in fifth with 2-4 and Roosevelt as the last team to make the playoffs with a 1-5 conference record.
The Ferris State men’s and women’s tennis teams will head to Midland to play in the GLIAC Tournament. The conference tournament will start on Thursday, April 23 and will continue on Friday, April 24, before the GLIAC Championship is played on Saturday, April 25. The times of the matches have yet to be determined.