In the quaint city of East Grand Rapids, Mich., residents spent the beautiful weekend relaxing. But while most residents spent their mornings sleeping in or eating breakfast, the Grand Valley State University women’s tennis team duked it out on the courts against 17 other teams in the USTA/ITA Regional Championships.

GVSU closed out the weekend by going 11-5 in singles and 5-2 in doubles in the A bracket. The team shined in the B bracket, as the ladies racked up a 17-5 record in singles and an 8-2 mark in doubles.

“We did really well, but we have a lot of tough opponents coming up still,” GVSU coach John Black said. “Our singles have played tough and our doubles have improved a lot, but we’re not quite where we would like to be.”

After a disappointing loss to Wayne State University last weekend, the ladies reemerged in dominant form by taking control of the tournament with several powerful performances in both singles and doubles.

Freshman Courtney Lang served up a 5-0 singles record while senior Morgan Patterson and freshman Aimee Moccia teamed up for a clean 5-0 sweep in doubles. Lang topped off her performance by taking first in the B bracket singles while Patterson and Moccia took first in the B bracket doubles.

Cooking up a recipe for success takes a lot of work though, and the leadership this year has proven to be the main ingredient. This year’s squad is comprised of six seniors and five freshmen, all of whom seem to be talented individuals. However, individual talent alone can’t carry a team.

“This has been the best year for team unity,” Black said. “The seniors have done a great job bringing the team together. They have led by example.”

Lang said that while she prefers playing singles, playing doubles was something she always wanted.

“I never had much doubles experience until I got to college,” Lang said. “It’s been a lot of fun and I think we’ve grown closer as a team because of it.”

Senior Leah Dancz said mentoring the younger players is important, and that it’s a responsibility for the seniors. Dancz also said helping them adjust to college life is important and playing doubles helps them to pump each other up.

“I think it’s important to mentor the freshman because they’ll be the leaders after we (seniors) graduate,” Dancz said. “We need to help them adjust to playing as part of a team and how to represent GV well.”

Looking to continue their impressive season, the Lakers will split up this weekend to do battle at the Wisconsin-Whitewater Invitational on Friday and at Tiffin University on Saturday.