CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport men's tennis team improved to 10-0 at home this season and played a pair of outdoor matches on Friday and Saturday at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex. On Friday, DU defeated Michigan Tech 6-1 and then on Saturday it was a 4-3 victory over Lake Superior State. The wins propel the Panthers to an overall record of 15-6 and moved their GLIAC record to 3-3. DU is now fifth in the conference standings with just one conference match remaining. That will occur on Friday, Apr. 18 against league-leading Grand Valley State (6-0) at home beginning at 11 AM.
Michigan Tech opened up with the doubles point on Friday.
Reuben Bakker and
Simone Pacciolla at the one spot did pick up a 6-4 win over Vitor Jordao and Landon Coates. The match hinged on the singles play as the Panthers won all six to claim the win. Pacciolla at one singles was able to win 6-3, 6-3 against Jordao.
Daniel Calver at two singles needed three sets to overcome Adam Fenjiro as he lost 7-6 before claiming the win at 6-4, 6-2.
Carlos Henriquez at four singles won in two tiebreakers 7-6, 7-6 against Coates.
Jose Brenes at six singles defeated Sarth Bansode by scores of 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.
Lake Superior State pushed the Panthers to the brink on Saturday, but DU picked up the 4-3 win. The doubles point belonged to the Panthers, which would provide a huge spark. Pacciolla and Bakker at one doubles won 6-4 against Driss Sedrati and Raul Velasco Garcia. The duo is now 12-5 together this season and 5-1 in GLIAC matches. Henriquez and Brenes at three doubles also pulled out a 6-4 win against Maxence Hamon and Haitam Aboufirassi. Those two improved to 5-2 together this season.
Pacciolla at one singles got the straight sets win by scores of 6-3, 6-4 over Stefan Andrei. Simone has moved into the top spot because of the injury to
Jan Stolin and done admirably with four wins in that position this season.
Rudiger Dusselberg at five singles got a hard-fought win by scores of 6-4, 7-5 over Hamon. Dusselberg leads the squad with 17 singles wins this season. Henriquez at four singles got a critical win over Garcia by scores of 7-6, 7-5. He is now 13-6 in dual matches this season, including 5-0 at the fourth spot.
