The Grand Valley State University men’s tennis team kicked off their season on Friday, Sept. 20 by competing against the Davenport University Panthers. The matches were a showcase of the team’s skills, with GVSU winning nine out of their 13 matches against Davenport University, Ferris State University and Northwood University.
Senior Chimo Minguez and his doubles partner Jorge Ruiz faced off against FSU’s Alessandro Santangelo and Kacper Pasielak. While Minguez and Ruiz fought hard in their matches, FSU beat the pair with an end score of 8-6.
This season marks their second year as doubles partners. Last season, the two had a 13-4 record.
“We had a really good season (last year), and I’m excited to (be playing) with him again,” said Minguez.
This season, assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach Martin Martov took on the responsibilities of head coach Samantha Barr, as she is on maternity leave. Despite the coaching switch up, student assistant coach Leandro Tello feels the effect of Barr’s absence has been offset due to the work of the rest of the coaching staff.
“She’s a good coach, but we do have another assistant coach as well,” Tello said. “I think we all do a pretty good job as a team. Now, we’re trying to do new things this season, but I think we’re doing a great job.”
Prior to this match, the men’s tennis team had a 14-0 record against the Panthers. This invitational marked their fifteenth win.
The matches gave the team a chance to grow accustomed to their opponents’ playing styles and skills, and gave players a chance to get better acquainted with their doubles partners.
Minguez highlighted what he’d like to see from the team’s performance throughout the upcoming season, including his hopes for regionals.
“For regionals, (we should) see how our doubles partners work, since some of them are new this year,” Minguez. “We’d like to see how far they’d (double partners could) go in the tournament, and try to get a good draw for the singles players. (We) can send them (singles players) to the ITA Cup, which is like nationals, but for singles only.”
