Idle since October, the Titan tennis teams both resume action this weekend in a winter-spring schedule which will carry them through the Horizon League Championships in April. The UDM men play at Michigan State on Saturday and at Western Michigan on Sunday, while the women's squad hosts IPFW on Sunday.
Men's tennis is in its first year as a varsity program after the sport was discontinued in 1995. Playing four tournaments in September and October, the Titans enter dual match play having made a statement in the fall by posting a .540 winning percentage in singles, taking 34 of 63 matches.
Junior Pjotrs Necajevs (Riga, Latvia/Herdera Vidusskola), a transfer from Mississippi State, won three flight titles during the fall and finished the season with a 13-1 singles record. He'll again anchor the Titan lineup, and will pair with freshman Dustin Goldenberg (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) in doubles, where they went 6-5 in fall action.
The experienced Titan women – with four seniors on an eight-player roster – will count on their veterans throughout the spring.
The team played in five tournaments during the fall campaign with considerable success. The top tandem of Annie Moore (St.Clair, MI/St.Clair) and Zeljka Minic (Zagreb, Croatia/Sport) finished with an 8-6 record at No. 1 doubles, including a solid showing at the season-ending Wilson ITA Midwest Regional.
Minic earned Horizon League Player of the Week honors in October after claiming the No. 2 singles title and the No. 1 doubles championship at the IPFW Invitational. She finished the fall with eight singles wins, as did senior Kelly Davis (South Lyon, MI / Farmington) and sophomore Erin Weldon (Kalamazoo, MI / Mattawan).
Sunday's match vs. IPFW is slated for 6:00 p.m. at Franklin Athletic Club.
-Detroit Titans-
