HILTON HEAD, S.C. — The Michigan Tech men's tennis team won three of its five matches at Spring Tennis Fest over the last week. The Huskies picked up wins over West Liberty, Chowan and St. Joseph's and suffered losses to Florida Tech and George Mason during the event.
Tech opened its spring trip last Saturday (Mar. 9) with an 8-1 loss to Florida Tech. The Huskies, playing their first outdoor match of the season, picked up its only point at No. 6 singles where Jimmy Konarske won 6-1, 6-3. Tech came up just shy in three other flights: No. 3 singles (where Built Yumuang fell in a super tiebreaker 10-3), No. 1 doubles (9-8) and No. 3 doubles (8-6).
The Black and Gold bounced back with an 8-1 victory over West Liberty Monday (Mar. 11). The Huskies swept the doubles matches, then won five of the six singles flights. Among those victories were a 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 triumph by Felipe Dos Santos at No. 1 and a 7-6, 6-4 decision by Nick Kremkow at No. 5. WLU's only point came at No. 2 singles, where Tech's No. 2 Javier Oliveros retired with injury.
On Tuesday (Mar. 12), Michigan Tech lost to Division I George Mason by a 7-2 score. Dos Santos and Pedro Rodriguez paired for an impressive 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles. The team competed well in singles, too. Konarske won his No. 6 singles match with a 6-0, 6-4 score. Dos Santos and Rodriguez both fell in third-set tiebreakers at Nos. 1 and 4 singles, respectively.
Tech came back Wednesday (Mar. 13) with a clean sweep of Chowan 9-0. The Huskies all earned straight set wins in singles. Yumuang, Nick Kremkow and Konarske all did so without surrendering a game at Nos. 3, 5 and 6, respectively.
Michigan Tech improved to 3-2 on the week when it closed out the trip with a 7-2 victory over in-region foe St. Joseph's (Ind.). Dos Santos was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 1 singles. The rest of the Tech singles players all played a flight above their regular spot with Oliveros sitting out. Yumuang, Rodriguez and Nick Kremkow all pulled out wins at Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Andrew Kremkow also was victorious as he stepped into the No. 6 slot and won a third-set tiebreaker 10-7. St. Joesph's two team points came at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles.
"Overall, I'm pleased with how we played on our trip," said head coach Kevin Kalinec. "We showed the ability to compete with some top teams, as we did against George Mason. We also gained a lot of valuable experience as we move forward in our season."
The Michigan Tech men's tennis team is now 12-4 overall as it returns home to resume GLIAC play. The next match for the Huskies will be Mar. 23 at Grand Valley State.
