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DETROIT (10/11/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's tennis team lost just one point as the red, white and blue cruised to a pair of wins at the Titan Invitational on Saturday, held at the Titan Tennis Courts at the James K. Campbell Complex.
"I thought everything went pretty well and the guys did a good job," said head coach
Grant Asher. "We have a lot of things we still need to work on, but we played two good programs that are coached extremely well and the guys handled it great."
The annual Titan event brought Ferris State and Wayne State to campus for a full day of collegiate tennis and when it was all said and done, Detroit captured 13 of a possible 14 points between its two matches. UDM started the day with a 6-1 victory over Ferris State before closing out the competition with a 7-0 win over WSU.
Detroit came out hot from the start taking all three doubles matches against the Bulldogs. Junior
Rafael Orantes and freshman
Nathan Ponton were victorious at No. 1 in a nailbiter, 8-7 (5), while senior
Jay Joshi and sophomore
Kacper Stelmaszak claimed No. 2, 8-2. At No. 3, sophomores
Patryk Koscielski and
Ismail Kadyrov won easily, 8-3.
In singles, UDM dropped just three sets in winning five of the six bouts. Ponton had to work hard, but eventually collected a 7-6, 6-4 decision over Laurent Galarneau at No. 1 for his first collegiate victory.
"I was happy watching Nathan play No. 1 singles against a really good guy from Ferris State and he was able to pick up a great win for his first Titan victory," added Coach Asher.
Orantes cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Tyler Bridges at No. 2, while Koscielski raced passed his counterpart Zachary Grabovic, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3. Stelmaszak downed Aaron Dial at fourth singles, 6-0, 6-3, and Kadyrov went the distance in recording a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 tally at No. 6.
"Kacper showed fantastic energy all day, and you have the core back with guys like Jay, Patryk, Ismail, Tanguy and Rafael, who have been through the battles and know how hard you need to work to win a championship," said Coach Asher.
Against Wayne State, the Titan duo of Ponton and Orantes earned an 8-2 win at the top spot. Joshi and Stelmaszak had no trouble at No. 2 upending their competition, 8-3, and Koscielski and Kadyrov provided the sweep with an 8-5 score.
UDM lost just one set in four singles matches against the Warriors, with No. 5 and No. 6 not played due to injuries.
Ponton once again played No. 1 and came away with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Clement Charriere. Orantes dispatched Mohamed Fazyl Kechai, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 and Stelmaszak recorded a straight-set 6-2, 6-2 ledger against Harvey Reed at No. 3. Kadyrov ended the day with a come-from-behind triumph, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7, against Ryan Carlson.
"I thought their energy was great in the first match, but dipped down in the second match," said Coach Asher. "We have a lot of things we need to work on if we want to win that Horizon League championship, but today was a good start for us."
Detroit will now get ready for the ITA Midwest Regional Championships as a select number of Titans will compete in the tournament at Michigan from Oct. 16-20.
