With wins in the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 singles, the Grand Valley State University men’s tennis team had a successful opening weekend at the DePauw Invitational in Greencastle, Ind.

The Lakers, who finished last season 12-12 (3-3 GLIAC) and fell in the third place match of the postseason GLIAC tournament, have gotten off on the right foot in 2011.

“You don’t always know what to expect in the first match of the season,” said freshman John McDonald. “I thought some of our guys were in midseason form, and it was a good warm up going into our next tournament.”

Led by McDonald, No. 2 singles winner Andrew Darrell and No. 4 singles winner Ben Delgado, the team left the tournament confident in what they accomplished in Indiana.

“I think some guys played well after working all summer,” Delgado said. “It’s good experience for our freshman.”

Gone are First-Team All-GLIAC performers Philipp Claus and Marc Roesslein, which means those freshman, McDonald and Zac Felice, will be a key cog in the team’s potential success this season.

“It just gives us confidence seeing how we finished and knowing we’re playing good,” said Darrell. “Doubles were a mixed bag for us today, but we played really solid today and took advantage of our opponents by running them side to side – we grinded it out.”

The team will look to use today’s success to prepare for next week’s ITA Regional Tournament in Jenison on Sept. 23-25.

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