“It was so surreal. There are four seniors on our team, and I know how bad they wanted to win this. It was a great moment,” FSU sophomore tennis player Otto Keresztes said after the upset.
The Bulldogs end the year with an impressive 16-6 record as they dropped the previously unbeaten 13th-ranked Northwood University squad in the GLIAC Championship to a 14-1 overall mark on route to a GLIAC Championship.
The Bulldogs came in ready and got off to a quick start in the doubles play as the two and three teams won their matchup. On the second team doubles, Keresztes and Justin Hermes topped NU by the score of 8-3, followed by Jack Swan and Tyler Marengo’s winning performance by the score of 8-2.
The Bulldogs would not hold the lead for long, as the Timberwolves stormed back with the first three singles matches with wins taking a 4-2 lead, only needing one more match to win the title.
With the deficit, everything changed when junior Razvan Mag took to the court.
“I’d give a shout out to Razvan Mag. He was down early, and had an amazing comeback and without that we wouldn’t have won the title,” Keresztes said.
Mag fell in the first set by a score of 3-6 and then stormed back in the second set winning the match by a score of 6-1. The third set had to be won or Northwood University would claim their 13th straight title. Mag fell behind to a 2-5 game deficit before catching fire and winning four out of the next five to tie it 6-6. In the tiebreaker, the Bulldogs were overjoyed when Mag finished the comeback, winning 7-5.
Mag’s exciting performance fueled Ferris State University as Keresztes and Marengo won their singles matches and earned FSU a GLIAC title by the score of 5-4.
The Bulldogs avenged a close 5-4 loss earlier in the season to the Timberwolves by bringing home the hardware.
Keresztes would go on to say, “We got some medals and a plaque and improved our ranking for the tournament, but it’s not over yet. We start practicing again this week for Regionals and look to continue or momentum going into next weekend.”
The Bulldogs entered the GLIAC tournament with the No. 2 seed (Northwood at number one) and defeated Findlay University in the first round by the score of 5-0, and in the second round defeated Wayne State University by the score of 5-2 and then capped it off with a 5-4 stunner over rival Northwood University.
The NCAA Division II tournament selections were announced April 24 to see who the Bulldogs take on in Regionals. Results were not available at the time of publication. Check online at fsutorch.com for the update.