DETROIT (1/22/16) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's tennis team returns to the court this weekend in Dekalb, Ill., taking on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday, before squaring off with Northern Illinois University on Sunday.
The matches, hosted by NIU, will take place at the Chick Evans Fieldhouse. Saturday's contest against UW-Whitewater is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, while Sunday's match against the Huskies is slated for 11 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT The Titans officially opened the spring season last Saturday,
falling at nationally-ranked Notre Dame, 7-0, from the Eck Tennis Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind.
Detroit put up a solid fight in the season-opener, but could not overcome the veteran-laden Fighting Irish roster.
The Titans battled tough in doubles, with Conley and Mertz upending the Irish duo of Dawson and Rayl, 6-4, from the No. 2 position.
In singles action, Stelmaszak gave the Irish's Kempin everything he could handle. Stelmaszak took the first set 6-4, before falling in a tough second set 6-4 (7-4). Kempin kept the momentum rolling in the third, ousting Stelmaszak 10-2.
SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS UW-Whitewater posted a 22-8 record a season ago and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament where they defeated Edgewood, 5-0, in the opening round before falling to Gustavus Adolphus, 5-1. UW-Whitewater is currently ranked 26th nationally in Division III. The Warhawks open the season against Cardinal Stritch on Saturday, before facing Detroit later in the day.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES NIU comes into the 2015-16 dual match season after posting an 18-6 mark a season ago, winning its third Mid-American Conference championship in the last four seasons. The Huskies were picked to finish fourth this year in the MAC Preseason Poll and open their season Friday at the University of Wisconsin.
WELCOME BACK The Titans return six players from the 2015 season, including senior
Rafael Orantes, juniors
Kacper Stelmaszak,
Chance Conley,
Ismail Kadyrov,
Patryk Koscielski and sophomore
Nathan Ponton. The freshman class of
Griffin Mertz,
Nicholas Solarewicz and
Adam Zychowicz round out the roster for Detroit.
Koscielski led the team with 13 singles victories in 2014-15, followed by Stelmaszak and Ponton with 10 apiece. Koscielski also led the squad with 10 doubles victories last season. Ponton recorded eight doubles wins, while Conley picked up seven.
Detroit hopes to build upon a strong fall that saw the team go 16-13 in singles. Conley, Orantes and Ponton each went 2-1 individually, while promising newcomers Zychowicz, Solarewicz and Mertz combined to go 8-2 in singles fall action.
2016 HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLLThe Titans were selected fifth in the 2016 Horizon League Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches, the conference office announced Friday afternoon. The top-six teams in the HL standings will make the Horizon League Tournament, hosted by the University of Michigan in 2016.
| Men's HL Preseason Poll |
| Rank | School | Points (1st place votes) |
| T-1 | Green Bay | 46 (4) |
| T-1 | Valparaiso | 46 (4) |
| 3 | Cleveland State | 37 |
| 4 | Youngstown State | 28 |
| 5 | Detroit | 22 |
| 6 | Illinois-Chicago | 18 |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky | 14 |
| 8 | Wright State | 13 |
UP NEXT After two matches in as many days, the Titans take a brief break before returning to action Saturday, Jan. 30 at Michigan State. Detroit will square off with Ball State University and the Spartans from East Lansing at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, next Saturday.
