It’s always gratifying when you are able to take down your arch rival, and that’s exactly what the
Grand Valley State University women’s tennis team was able to accomplish.

The Lakers rolled over Saginaw Valley State University 8-1 to to start their weekend homestand on
Sept. 20. The match was moved to Ramblewood Tennis & Health Club because of the weather.

GVSU started the day by winning all three doubles matches. Lexi Rice and Carola Orna teamed up to
win 8-2 in the No. 1 position. Kali Phillips and Leah Dancz gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead by winning by a
score of 8-1.

Kristina Lucas paired up with Kelly Trapp to win No. 3 doubles 8-0. Doubles has been emphasized
greatly this year, and the team is happy with the progress thus far, but it still thinks that there is room
for improvement in both singles and doubles.

“We are happy with the early success but we can always get better at singles and doubles,” junior
Morgan Patterson said. “We need to continue to improve to reach our goals, and that’s what we are
going to try to do every day in practice.”

GVSU was equally impressive in their singles matches, winning five out of the six. Lexi Rice dropped a
highly competitive match in No. 1 singles 5-7, 6-2, 10-1. The Lakers went on to win the remaining
five matches without dropping a set in the process.

GVSU was able to win its third straight contest on Sept. 21 defeating Michigan Tech University 6-3.
The Lakers won two out of the three doubles matches as Dancz and Phillips moved to 7-0 on the
season with an 8-0 victory at No. 2 doubles. Morgan Patterson and Niki Shipman also won 8-1,
improving their record at No. 3 doubles to 6-0.

After dropping the first two singles matches, Shipman won 7-5, 6-1 to tie up the match at 3-3. The
match made Shipman 6-0 on the year in singles play and 12-0 overall.

The depth of the Lakers was key in this match as they were able to win the remaining 3 matches and
get the 6-3 victory. Trapp improved to 5-0 on the season, picking up a 6-0, 6-0 victory in No. 5
singles. Patterson won 6-1, 6-3 in No. 6 singles and improved to 4-0 on the season.

“A lot of schools have strong players at the top of their line-up,” Trapp said. “We have a much deeper
team than most other schools. It’s a big advantage for us, and we realize the importance of every
match.”

The Lakers wrapped up the weekend on Sept. 22 with a doubleheader as they took on Lake Superior
State University in the morning, followed by a non-conference match-up with Davenport in the
afternoon.

GVSU put forth another impressive performance as it defeated LSSU 9-0. The Lakers got contributions
from each of their players, and that held true during the second match of the day, as well.

The Lakers finished up the weekend by defeating Davenport by a score of 8-1. They were able to take
all three of the doubles matches against the Panthers.

Head coach John Black was happy to win all four matches and and can see the team improving.

“It’s a gradual process but we are looking a little bit better each time out,” Black said. “We are doing
the things we need to do a little bit easier. We’ve had steady progress, and our four new doubles
teams have adjusted very well.”

The win over Davenport made it five straight for the Lakers, and they improved to 8-1 on the season.
GVSU travels down to Indianapolis next weekend to compete in the ITA Regional Tournament.

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