GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport tennis teams had hoped to play their first ever true home matches this weekend but the weather has forced then to move their pair of non-conference matches inside as they will each take on Indiana Wesleyan and Ashford (Iowa) Friday and Saturday. The men kick off the weekend on Friday against the Wildcats and then the women will follow against IWU on Saturday. Both teams will also face the Ashford Saints on Saturday as well.

Head coach Patrick Grashorn and his team's had high hopes of opening up the Farmers Athletic Complex this weekend with a pair of matches but that will have to wait as the Michigan weather has forced the IWU and Ashford matches inside. Grashorn took some time to answer some questions about the state of the teams and what each has been working on.

First conference match are under the belt - women with a win, men with a tough loss - how do you react to those matches?

“Women - I expect the women's win to do a lot for the team's confidence. We still have some injuries to sort through and some points of improvement to work on but moving forward it was a great start to conference play.”

“Men - UNOH is a difficult place to play on the road. The carry a lot of players and those that don't make the lineup do their best to affect play from the sidelines. I was impressed with the way our guys handled themselves. It would have been easy to collapse under the conditions but top to bottom we played well.”  

Both teams had BIG wins over Walsh last weekend - An NCAA DII foe - what did that do for your team's confidence

“We used the Walsh wins as momentum builders going into UNOH. Walsh had played UNOH not too long ago so in comparing the results, we felt confident heading into the UNOH match. 

Two new opponents this week – Indiana Wesleyan and Ashford - thoughts going into the matches?

“Women - IWU has been a perennial NAIA top 20 program for as long as I can remember. That being said we've played them close in the past and with the confidence the girls have right now, they feel they can beat anyone.” 

“Men - This is another big match for the guys. We made a list of all the top 25 and "receiving votes" teams we face and IWU is on it. They are a solid team with good depth. A good showing Friday would provide some momentum heading into the rest of conference play.” 
 

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