An eventful weekend ensued for the Grand Valley State University women’s tennis team as they faced off against a collection of teams that included Northwood University, Saginaw Valley State University and Ferris State University at the ITA Regional tournament.

“It was good to see what competition would be like further down the road,” said senior Allison Fecko. “Overall, everyone played good this past weekend, it was a good showing for us.

As the weather turned, so did the venue for the ITA regionals. The tournament picked up from Jenison High School and changed gears to an indoor venue.

“It’s just the nature of the game,” said senior Katelyn Schafer. “It did however impact the waiting time between matches. There was a lot more down time for us, something we are really not used to when compared to our outdoor matches.”

Bright spots for the Lakers included Leah Dancz who went deep in the top singles tournament, which ended in a thrilling three and a half hour match.

“It was really crazy, something you rarely see,” Schafer said when referring to her teammates marathon match.

Christina Lucas and Ann Marie Marran highlighted the Lakers’ doubles teams as they won the “B” tournament this past weekend.

“It was nice to see everyone have a good showing this weekend,” said head coach John Black. “Hopefully we continue to improve from here on out.”

As the season gets into its groove, the Lakers continue to build chemistry, especially with the focus built around the doubles.

“Our doubles are key to our success,” said Schafer. “Everyone is becoming more relaxed as we are getting deeper into the season, we just need to keep building off of what we have accomplished so far.”

Once the season gets rolling, look for the Lakers to get more aggressive with their play.

“We need our play to be more aggressive but not overly aggressive,” said Black. “Minimizing mistakes is also key.”

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