A strong start helped propel the Grand Valley State University women’s tennis team to a 7-2 victory over GLIAC rival Saginaw State University on Tuesday.

The No. 15-ranked Lakers were looking to get back on track after suffering their first loss of the season to Wayne State University on Sunday, a goal they easily accomplished.

“We knew we had to step it up and come ready to play today,” said sophomore Anne Marie Morin. “We can’t take anything for granted.”

With Morin’s words in mind, GVSU came into the match with the mindset compete hard, regardless of who the opponent is or what the score is.

As the first serve went up the air, GVSU displayed energy after picking up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Junior Allison Fecko and senior Alyssa Lucas defeated the Cardinals 8-0, while the sophomore duo of Lexi Rice and Niki Shipman won their match 8-1.

“From Sunday to [Tuesday] we really turned it around,” said Jon Black, GVSU head coach. “I feel like we’re starting to reach our form, and we got strong performances from our freshmen today.”

Tara Hayes and Morin dropped their doubles match 7-9, but kept the momentum on the Lakers’ side in a battle that went down to the wire.

“Personally, I think I did better today. I really wanted to focus on moving forward and being more aggressive than I was on Sunday,” Morin said.

The consistent play in doubles by the entire team helped GVSU relax, and build a lead it would not relinquish.

“Anytime we have a lead after doubles it’s huge because it takes pressure off of our singles matches,” Black said. “Then we know we only have to win three of our singles matches, and we feel like we can beat anyone in the conference once we have the lead.”

As the day continued, GVSU kept their “step it up” mindset alive, dropping only one match during singles play. Freshmen Kristina Lucas and Kali Phillips helped shut the door on the Cardinals with strong performances, winning 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-0 respectively.

“We were all excited to get back on the court, and wanted to redeem ourselves after the loss,” said junior Alyssa Lucas. “We all played well today. Everyone did their part, and the freshmen Kali and Kristina played tough, which was great.”

With the win, the Lakers improve to 3-1 while Saginaw Valley falls to 0-3. GVSU hopes to build off their total team effort this weekend as they compete at ITA Regional Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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