The Grand Valley State University men’s tennis team picked up their first GLIAC victory of the season on Saturday, beating Lake Superior State University 7-2. The team followed it up with a 6-3 win on Sunday against Michigan Technological University.

“We are playing a lot better as a team after our spring break trip,” said sophomore Bryan Hodges. “We played a lot of the hardest teams in the country in Orlando. The conditions were really tough at LSSU because the courts are not actually tennis courts. It is like a gym facility floor.”

Against Lake Superior State (3-7, 0-2 GLIAC), GVSU’s No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Andrew Darrell and senior Benny Delgado-Rochas, and No. 2 doubles team of senior Marc Roesslein and Hodges contributed wins at their respective spots. Darrell and Delgado-Rochas took away a close 8-6 win, while Roesslein and Hodges won 8-4.

In singles action, GV (5-9, 2-1 GLIAC) won at each slot except No. 1 singles. At No. 2, Delgado-Rochas won 6-4, 6-2; Roesslein won easily 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2; Hodges won 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 at No. 4; senior Josh Kazdan won at No. 5 in a close match 6-3, 3-6, 10-4; and freshman John McDonald
won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6.

“It was only our second GLIAC match this year so we are really just getting started,” Kazdan said. “It was nice though to get off to a good start this spring. I would say we played together as a team and it is all really coming together.”

Against the Huskies (2-5, 0-3 GLIAC) on Sunday, the Lakers picked up a strong 6-3 victory, backing-up their strong play from the day before and bettering their conference mark to 2-1.

Roesslein and Hodges again contributed an important win at No. 2 doubles, winning 8-2. No. 3 doubles crew of Kazdan and McDonald stepped up as well with a 8-4 win at their spot.

“I think we are all motivated right now,” Roesslein said. “We have to be on top of our game at all times and we have played much better in doubles. If you go up to the U.P., you definitely want to win your match. The long travel pushes you to play well because you don’t want to dive all that way and lose.”

In singles play against Michigan Tech, the Lakers saw wins from spots No. 3 through No. 6. Roesslein won impressively for a second-straight day, 6-0, 6-2; Hodges won 6-2, 6-2; and Kazdan and McDonald each picked up 6-4, 6-3 wins.

“We started our season off with some of the toughest teams in our region, some of the toughest teams we will play all year,” Hodges said. “Our whole team got better. No team in the GLIAC conference can really match the team’s we have already played.”

The Lakers come back to Allendale for a home match against Aquinas College on Wednesday before heading back on the road to Ohio on Friday and Saturday to face conference opponents, the University of Findlay and Tiffin University.

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