GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - No. 24 Grand Valley State seized the team doubles point and grabbed five singles wins to defeat Michigan Tech 6-1 in women's tennis Sunday morning at Grand Rapids Racquet & Fitness Center. Lauren Opalewski was the lone winner for the Huskies at No. 5 singles as MTU suffered its sixth straight defeat to start the spring season.
The Huskies have struggled to stay healthy, a challenge exasperated by playing three nationally-ranked opponents and zero matches in Houghton thus far.
"We are competitive when healthy but unfortunately that hasn't been the case lately," said head coach Kristin Yep. "Having a full lineup is our goal right now and we will continue to look for ways to improve."
Marily Canellopoulos and Marija Leko claimed a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles over Opalewski and Neva Manas. Dominika Bobik and Chiara Heinz lost at No. 2 doubles to the GVSU duo of Vasileia and Vera Griva 6-2 and Ivona Gorgioski and Marina Fernandez came up short 6-3 to Estafania Hernandez and Taylor Barrett.
After a positive start in California, Nicole Ballach lost at No. 1 singles and Bobik also struggled at No. 2, losing in straight sets to Vasileia Griva 6-0, 6-1. Both Manas and Fernandez pushed their opponents to third set super-tiebreakers at No. 4 and No. 6 singles respectively, but both came up just short 10-8 in deciders with the team match score already determined.
Opalewski's win at No. 5 came over Mary Canellopoulos 6-4, 7-5. Grand Valley State improved to 8-4, 3-0 GLIAC.
No Tech players have appeared in all six matches this spring.
The Huskies (0-6, 0-2 GLIAC) are home for the first time this season on April 1 when they host Saginaw Valley State at 10 a.m.
Scores
Doubles
- GVSU (Marily Canellopoulos/Marija Leko) def. MTU (Lauren Opalewski/Neva Manas) 6-2
- GVSU (Vera Griva/Vasileia Griva) def. MTU (Neva Manas/Chiara Heinz) 6-2
- GVSU (Estefania Hernandez/Taylor Barrett) def. MTU (Ivona Gorgioski/Marina Fernandez) 6-3
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
Singles
- GVSU (Marija Leko) def. MTU (Nicole Ballach) 3-0 ret.
- GVSU (Vasileia Griva) def. MTU (Dominika Bobik) 6-1, 6-0
- GVSU (Taylor Barrett) def. MTU (Ivona Gorgioski) 6-1, 6-2
- GVSU (Estafania Hernandez def. MTU (Neva Manas) 6-3, 1-6, 10-8
- MTU (Lauren Opalewski) def. GVSU (Marily Canellopoulos) 6-4, 7-5
- GVSU (Olivia Huang) def. MTU (Marina Fernandez) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
Order of Finish: N/A
