Defending Champion Ferris State Advances To GLIAC Men's Tennis Championship Match
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team will have an opportunity to defend its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship as the Bulldogs recorded a 5-1 win over second-seeded Wayne State in the semifinal round on Saturday (April 20) afternoon at the Midland Community Tennis Center.
The third-seeded Bulldogs bolted out to a 3-0 lead after sweeping the doubles round against the Warriors and then wrapped up the match by claiming two of the first three completed singles contests to move into the championship round.
FSU, which avenged an earlier 6-3 regular-season road setback to the Warriors on April 3, will now square off in the finals on Sunday (April 21) morning against top-seeded Northwood starting at 8:30 a.m. (ET).
The Bulldogs claimed all three doubles flights by identical 8-5 scores. In the first matchup this year between the two schools, WSU had won two of the three doubles spots.
In singles action, top player Laurent Galarneau was a straight-set winner at the number one flight while senior Tyler Marengo claimed a 6-0, 7-5 win at third singles. WSU's only victory came at the sixth singles spot in the lineup.
With the win, Ferris State improved to 16-4 overall this season and WSU fell to 13-8 on the year. The Bulldogs have now won nine of their last 11 outings to date. On Friday (April 19), FSU opened the tournament by beating sixth-seeded Tiffin 5-0.
All eight teams involved in the GLIAC Tournament are slated to play three matches each over the course of the three-day event. The third and final round will take place on Sunday.
A year ago, Ferris State claimed its first GLIAC Tournament Championship since 1999 with a stunning 5-4 triumph over Northwood in the title match. FSU previously finished as the runner-up to Northwood seven consecutive seasons from 2000-06 and then placed fifth in 2006-07, fourth in 2007-08 and were third overall in 2008-09 before also finishing third in 2010-11.
In addition to being ranked 34th nationally, the Bulldogs are also currently ranked second in the ITA Midwest Regional Rankings.
Below are the complete match results:
Ferris State 5, Wayne State 1
Apr 20, 2013 at Midland, Mich. (MCTC)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Laurent Galarneau (FS) def. Aman Gill (WS-M) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2. Thomas Ducret (WS-M) vs. Sergiu Laza (FS) unfinished |
| 3. Tyler Marengo (FS) def. Mohamed Fazyl Kechai (WS-M) 6-0, 7-5 |
| 4. Melvin Joseph (WS-M) vs. Razvan Mag (FS) unfinished |
| 5. Michael FitzGerald (WS-M) vs. Otto Keresztes (FS) unfinished |
| 6. Jason Chen (WS-M) def. Aaron Dial (FS) 6-2, 6-0 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Laurent Galarneau/Razvan Mag (FS) def. Aman Gill/Trey Keating (WS-M) 8-5 |
| 2. Sergiu Laza/Tyler Marengo (FS) def. Melvin Joseph/Michael FitzGerald (WS-M) 8-5 |
| 3. Otto Keresztes/Aaron Dial (FS) def. Thomas Ducret/Jason Chen (WS-M) 8-5 |