Ferris State Men's Tennis Takes Over GLIAC Lead With Victory At #22 Wayne State

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team took over sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) standings as the Bulldogs knocked off nationally 22nd-ranked Wayne State by a 4-3 score in league action on Sunday (April 14) in Detroit.

The Bulldogs, who are listed 28th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, swept the doubles round to set the tone for the day, picking up the first point of the contest in the match contested outdoors at the new WSU Tennis Courts. The Warriors had been ranked in the top 10 nationally earlier this spring.

In singles action, the Warriors swept the top three flights, but FSU responded by taking the bottom three spots in the lineup to garner the win. Ferris State got singles wins from Jan Koupil at four singles in three sets along with a straight-set triumph from Alessandro Santangelo at five singles and a three-set victory by Kevin Kovacs at the sixth position.

Koupil also teamed up with Benjamin Lortie for a big doubles win as the nation's 12th-ranked tandem upset the second-ranked duo of Cedric Drenth and Daniel Grey by a 6-3 score. Santangelo and Esunge Ndumbe beat the nation's 11th-ranked duo of Luke Laws and Dom Spicer by a 7-6 (7-4) decision while Kovacs and Yannic Alexander Mader paired up to top Denali Kitayama and Benjamin Hill by a 6-4 count.

With the win, Ferris State improved to 13-4 overall this season and 4-0 in conference play. WSU fell to 11-9 on the year and 3-1 in league play as the two teams had been tied atop the conference standings entering the showdown.

The Bulldogs now lead both Wayne State and Lake Superior State by one match with two contests remaining in regular-season play. The loss marked the first home setback of the year for WSU, which dropped to 9-1 at home this season.

The victory was Ferris State's eighth in a row to date this season.

The Bulldogs will close out GLIAC regular-season play back at home next weekend, hosting Michigan Tech on Friday (April 19) and Lake Superior State on Saturday (April 20) at the FSU Racquet and Fitness Center. Both matches are slated for 2 p.m. (ET) starts.

The complete match results can be found at this link:
https://ioncourt.com/ties/660ff78e1906e2a6666a5715