With the fall winding down, the Grand Valley State University men’s tennis team looked to capture some momentum as its season drew to a close.

The University of Detroit Mercy welcomed fierce competition at the third annual Titan Invitationalon Saturday, where Wayne State University and GVSU were in attendance.

GVSU accepted the challenge eagerly, looking forward to a few final, satisfying matches before the season’s close.

“We played pretty well as a team today,” senior Francis Bertrand said. “I saw some good things from everybody.”

With this tournament being the last one of the season, ending on a high note was certainly sought after by every teammate.

However, this was only the beginning for the GVSU tennis team.

For the men’s varsity team, the main goal of the fall season is to hone the players’ skills.The team only competes for practice in the fall; no scores are kept during competition. It allows the team to learn from its mistakes and strengthen its skills without the judgment of the scoreboard.

“I can’t wait to start off the next season strong,” Bertrand said.

With a whole season of practice matches under their belts, the players are more than ready for real competition waiting for them in the spring.

Although the invitational ended with no real winners or losers, the GVSU tennis team knew the outcome of its individual matches very well. Score or no score, a few players still managed to stand out among the rest.

Bertrand won his second single 6-4, 6-4, which left him with the satisfaction of knowing he ended the season strong and allows him to look forward to the next one.

Sophomore Michael Kaye’s performance was also impressive during his match against Wayne State. Kaye won 6-4, 7-6, and he said he felt this win was especially important due to GVSU’s competitive spirit toward Wayne State.

“(Wayne State) is one of our big rivals, so it was nice to have a win over them,” Kaye said. “My serve was working well, and I had a tone of unreturned serves and quick holds.”

The Lakers will return to the courts in the spring season, but for now, they will look at what worked and what didn’t work in the fall season and hope to use their experience to propel them later in the year.

“We are a very good ground-stroking team off the ground, and I think that strength showed today,” senior Andrew Darrell said.