Ferris State Beats GVSU In GLIAC Title Match To Sweep Regular-Season & Tourney Crowns
Big Rapids, Mich. - For the first time since 1994, the Ferris State University men's tennis squad has captured both the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season and tournament championships in the same campaign.
The Bulldogs completed the sweep of the league titles by winning the 2016 GLIAC Tournament on Sunday (May 1) with a 5-2 triumph over West Michigan rival Grand Valley State at the Midland Community Tennis Center in Midland, Mich.
Top-seeded Ferris State trailed the second-seeded Lakers 2-1 following doubles play as GVSU notched wins at the second and third flights in the doubles round.
However, in singles action, Ferris State fought back for the second-straight day as FSU captured the first four completed spots with all four wins coming in straight-sets. The Bulldogs got wins from Vasil Surduk at first singles, Nur Admin Ramdani Iswan at the third flight along with Daniil Tarantinov and Simon Levy at the five and six spots, respectively.
Both Surduk and Iswan were double winners on the day as they also scored a 9-7 triumph at the first doubles flight to account for FSU's point in the early doubles round.
This year marks the first time in which Ferris State has claimed the GLIAC Tournament Championship since 2012. It is also only the second league postseason crown in the last 16 years as the 2012 crown was FSU's first since 1999. Last year, the Bulldogs again advanced to the final, but fell to Northwood 5-3 in Midland.
The 2016 campaign also represents the first-time ever in which FSU has won both the GLIAC Regular-Season & Tournament Championships in the same year since the tournament moved to its current dual team format. FSU last won both in the same campaign in 1994, but the tourney was structured then in an individual-based scoring format.
Last week, Ferris State won the GLIAC's outright regular-season title for the second-striaght year. Prior to the last two years, Northwood had won the last 20 regular-season crowns in a row dating back to 1995, including a share of the title with FSU in 1999. Either Northwood or Ferris State have won the GLIAC Championship in the regular season every year since 1982. The two schools shared the crown in 1982 before FSU had a 12-year run as the outright champion prior to the NU stretch.
With this year's championships, the men's tennis squad became the fifth FSU team to win a conference title this season, joining football, volleyball, men's basketball and hockey teams. The squad is also the fourth of the group to repeat as back-to-back champions this year in the regular-season and the fourth to claim a league postseason tournament crown.
The Bulldogs, who are currently ranked second in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Rankings, own a 21-4 overall record and were a perfect 9-0 in regular-season action for the second-straight year. FSU previously beat rival Northwood 5-2 on Saturday in the semifinals of the tournament following a first-round bye to move into the title match.
The GLIAC Tournament represents the Bulldogs' final competition until an expected berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament. The NCAA Division II men's tennis selection show will take place Tuesday, May 3, at 8 p.m. (ET) with a live stream of the selection show available at NCAA.com. Bulldog fans are invited to join the FSU men's tennis team at Buffalo Wild Wings in Big Rapids for a NCAA Selection Show Watch Party on Tuesday night.
The complete match results can be found at this link:
http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com/sports/mten/2015-16/files/Lineup_Sheets-FSvsGV_2016.pdf
