Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio (3/14/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's tennis team began the weekend with a big win as sophomore Rafael Orantes and freshman Patryk Koscielski put the finishing touches on a 4-3 victory over Toledo on Friday afternoon at the Shadow Valley Tennis Club.

"This was a big win against a good, well coached program," said head coach Grant Asher. "I believe playing some of the tough teams we have on the schedule like No. 6 Illinois helped us get ready to beat a good program."

It was a close battle right from the start and everything hinged on the last two singles bouts as Detroit (3-8) was able to rally past Toledo (5-15).

At No. 4, Orantes won his first set 6-2, but dropped the second 7-5. That did not deter him at all as the second-year Titan cruised in set three, 6-1, to tie the match at 3-all.

At the same time Orantes was taking control of his match, Koscielski was in the stages of a comeback to seal the win as the rookie fell 6-4 in the first set before posting back-to-back 6-4, 6-4 scores at No. 3 for the triumph, giving the Titans the team win.

"All season long, our No. 3, 4 and 5 guys have played well and got some wins for us," said Coach Asher. "All these guys have worked hard and it showed in beating a program like Toledo."

The other singles win on the day came at the fifth position as freshman Ismail Kadyrov defeated his counterpart, 6-3, 7-5.

The Titan win started at doubles as the red, white and blue earned their first doubles point of the season by taking two of the three matches. At No. 2, junior Jay Joshi and Kadyrov were able to pull out an 8-7 (5) affair, while senior Bobby Cawood and Koscielski tallied an 8-4 victory.

"This was our first doubles point of the season and it was a big one," said Coach Asher. "We have really a new team from last year with just a few guys back and they are still working on knowing each other and playing together and I think you saw that hard work pay off today."

The Titans will now get ready for another strong foe as they visit No. 41 Michigan on Saturday with play scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m., at the Varsity Tennis Center.