Fall Season Finishes Strong at GLIAC's

Last weekend the women had a strong finish to the fall portion of their season. We played in our conference tournament held at MSU and went 2-1. We started off the weekend with a quick 5-0 victory over Lake Superior State. Next up was Michigan Tech. Tech played us tougher than they did earlier in the fall and came away with a 5-4 victory.

Our last match of the weekend was against Wayne State whom we had squeezed past 5-4 in early October. Again the match was tight. We were tied up at 4-4 with only Jackie Shipman at 5th singles on the court in a 3rd set. The set went back and forth. Jackie was down, then was up, then was behind again. Finally, she was up 6-5 and serving but her opponent refused to quit. The game went to deuce, then ad out then ad in numerous times. Finally, after at least 3 aces in the game, Jackie held on to win 7-5, clinching the team victory.

Highlights of the weekend were Tara, Katelyn S, Chelsea and Darylann selected to the All GLIAC 2nd Team. Rachel and Jackie were selected All GLIAC Honorable Mention. Other bright spots were dinner at PF Changs and not having to go back to the bubble courts for a 2nd match.

With our fall season behind us its now time to hit the weights and get in better shape. For the rest of the semester we'll be working hard to improve our strength and fitness.

Mysterious Vanishing Blog

I suddenly noticed that all of the blog posts for the month of October have vanished so today will just be a very brief recap.

On the women's side the team is now 8-2. We came in 2nd place in the GLIAC conference and are heading to the GLIAC tournament in Lansing, MI this weekend. We'll face some tough tennis but if we rise to the occasion we could end up winning the conference tournament.

On the men's side we have finished our fall season and are now going to be hitting the weight room harder the next few weeks. The men dominated the last two tournaments of the fall. We won every doubles flight at the GVSU Doubles Invitational in early October. Then, October 9th through 11th, we visited Chicago for the Lewis Flyers Classic. Again we played well. We ended up winning 4 out of 5 singles flights and 2 of the 4 doubles flights.

Women's Tennis Starts Season 3-0

While the men were battling in Midland, the women started conference play at home.

On Friday we started off the season against Michigan Tech. Daryl & Chelsea dominated at 1st doubles and claimed a convincing 8-1 win. Tara & Katelyn faced MTU's top player at 2nd doubles. We competed well but they were too strong. Jackie & Rachel, playing at 3rd, put us in the lead 2-1 with their solid doubles play. In the singles Tech's top two players proved to be too strong for us. Tara and Katelyn both played well but came up short. Daryl, Jackie and Rachel all won easily and clinched the match for us. Chelsea, at #3, won the first set, dropped the 2nd, then fought back to get the win in the match tiebreaker. We started the season with a 6-3 win.

Saturday morning was very overcast and cool which probably made Lake Superior State feel right at home. Unfortunately for them our ladies were not as accommodating as the weather. We came out firing and quickly sprinted to a 3-0 lead after some strong doubles play. In the singles everyone won their first sets easily. LSSU played tougher in the 2nd sets but everyone but Rachel prevailed in straight sets. With the match decided, Rachel relaxed and cruised to a 10-4 victory in the match tiebreaker giving us the 9-0 win.

The women raced off to Subway, stopping only in the locker room to change uniforms. After the brief break we were back on court facing Davenport. This is the first year that Davenport has had a tennis team. The top of their line up was two identical twins who had played last season at a DI college down south. They made a formidable doubles team and gave Chelsea and Daryl a battle but our strong net play led us to victory. 2nd and 3rd doubles both won convincingly. In the singles Tara and Katelyn both had tough matches. Tara adjusted to her opponents lobs and finished with a 6-0 second set. Katelyn's opponent started out hot and won a close first set 6-4. In the 2nd set the Davenport Panther raced to a 5-2 lead but Katelyn battled back, breaking twice to even the match at 5. Unfortunately the Davenport player ended up winning 7-5 after two hotly contested games. We handled Davenport easily at positions 3 through 6 and ended up with an 8-1 win to finish the weekend.

This week we have set our sights on Wayne State whom we play Friday. Wayne will be a tough match but we've got the week to prepare for them.

Men's Tennis Advances at ITA

This past weekend the GVSY men's tennis team started fall competition with the ITA Regional Championships at Northwood University. The ITA tournament is one flight for singles and doubles and has the top players in our region competing. This year 16 teams were entered in the tournament.

We ended up with 3 doubles teams and 5 singles players entered. The men left GVSU Thursday afternoon for the two hour drive to Midland, MI. After checking in at the tournament site, the men chowed down at Damons.

Early Friday morning play began. Four of our five singles players advanced out of the first round. However, only Marc Roesslein (right) made it to the 2nd day of singles competition. In the afternoon the doubles teams played tough. Our first doubles team of Tony Dang and Marc Roesslein won both their matches and advanced to Saturday's play. Our 2nd and 3rd doubles teams both won their first round but dropped the 2nd.

After a tasty dinner at Logan's Friday evening the men went to bed early. Saturday saw Marc win his first match easily and move on to the quarterfinals. However, he ran in to a buzzsaw and dropped to Drury's top player (an eventual tournament champion). In the doubles quarterfinals Marc & Tony faced a hot Lewis team and fell behind early. The rest of the match the two teams traded holds. We had a few chances to break but Lewis rose to the occasion.

All in all it was a great tournament. Everyone on the team won at least one match and we had a singles play and a doubles team advance all the way to the quarterfinals. Coming up this weekend is the GVSU Invitational tournament.

Women's Tennis Competes at the ITA

This past weekend we loaded up the van and drove down to Indianapolis, IN for the ITA Regional Championships. Around 20 of the top teams in our region were competing in the individual singles and doubles tournament. We prepared ourselves for some tough tennis with a dinner at Texas Roadhouse Thursday evening then woke bright and early Friday for a long day of tennis.

It warmed up quickly and so did our tennis games. By the end of the day Darylann Trout and Tara Hayes had made it to the round of 16 in the singles and Darylann & Chelsea Johnston had advanced to the doubles quarterfinals.

On Saturday we dominated in the exhibition & consolation matches however Darylann and Tara both lost their main draw singles matches. In the doubles Chelsea and Darylann first took down Northwood's top team in a tiebreaker then held on to defeat Drury's top twosome in another tiebreaker. They became the first GVSU players to ever advance to the finals of the ITA Regional Championship tournament.

Sunday was wet and rainy so the tennis moved in to the bubble. We only had Darylann & Chelsea left in the doubles and they faced Wayne's top team for the trophy. After a slow start it looked like Wayne would run away with it. We were down and Wayne was on top of their games. The ladies refused to give up and dug their way back in to the match, tieing it up at 6 games all. The next few games both teams took turns gaining then losing the lead. Eventually we ended up in a tiebreaker for the title. Again both teams took turns taking then losing the lead. At 6 points all we played an incredible point that ended with an unfortunate call of "out!" The match ended on the next point when the Wayne player pounded a forcing serve. Though we didn't win, we fought hard, gave 100 percent and competed with the best teams in the region this past weekend.

Next up for us are 3 matches this weekend. We'll face Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State and Davenport's ladies all home at GVSU.

It's About to Get Started...

Students have moved in to dorms, physicals have been taken, paperwork has been completed, the weather has been good and the tennis teams are practicing strong!

The women start things off next weekend with a trip to Indianapolis, IN for the ITA Regional Championship Tournament. All the top teams in our region will be competing. The tournament will be a good measuring stick to show us where we are and where we need to be.

The men's team has an extra week before their ITA tournament. They've just started match play this week and the level of play is picking up. I've found that I can still compete with them in singles but have been losing close matches. Hopefully next week I can get in to the win column.

Below are Darylann and Chelsea dominating at the Western Michigan ITA tournament earlier this summer.

An Interview with Alex Switzer

Alex Switzer played 5th singles and 2nd doubles for the men's team this past season. He finished his career with a record of 69-34 in singles and 77-33 in doubles. Alex was selected as GVSU's male Student Athlete of the Year. Below is an interview with Alex.


1. Coming out of high school, what was the primary reason you chose to attend GVSU?

I heard it was an amazing new and upcoming school; the facilities are amazing, the school is clean and everything is new starting with buildings, technology and great sport programs and tradition. For all that and more, I then found out coming here the great teaching and nursing programs, which a lot of girls go into thus why GV's is around 65% female, 35% male, a huge plus for guys. What's also funny is because I was told I could be a starter for the team, other schools that recruited me said I would need a year or so to be a starter from the conference or other teams we played, then I beat their players during the season, that felt good.

2. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were a senior in high school?

Go into college with an open mind and willing to experience all aspects of life and the college environment. For the most part I did this, at the time any decision I made I was doing it because I was happy but really to enjoy being young. Don't be tied to things at home or more. It will always still be there, old friends doing the same thing; that's the point of college, meeting new people, new friends, new memories. Do as much as you can with as many as you can because in my opinion these are the best years in your life.

3. What are the best aspects of college tennis?

The traveling, playing great opponents, being proud you're a college athlete. Not all people do this and it is great experience. It builds character, opens new doors and future job employers look highly on college athletes. I loved traveling around the U.S...for free! Staying in hotels, eating out, doing what you love on the weekends when friends back home are just sitting at home, it is a nice feeling. Sure sometimes the road and the game tires on you, but that's why we do it, because it is something we love.

4. Over your career, what match is most memorable and why?

I have a couple, some wins, some losses. My first was when I was coming back as a red shirt sophmore from a school in NY. I had been away from college tennis for a year and it really did me a lot of good. I had been worn out and the break really made me have a desire for the sport that lasted these three years. That whole year was special because I felt I was really successful especially when I had beat Northwood in singles in a dual match. Northwood, being one of our main rivals, always has great players and is always at the top of the GLIAC and it had been quite awhile since a GV player had won a singles match against them. This match gave me the confidence over the next few years that I always believed when I walked out onto the court I always had a chance. My other two happened this year, sadly they were both losses at crucial points but knowing I had given it my all leaving everything out on the court I do not regret anything. They were two 3rd set tiebreaker losses to Bellarmine at the start of the season that turned out to be an important match and against Ferris State in my last national tournament. They were entertaining matches, and I had won other third setters that year and during other years and thats just sports, sometimes you win the close ones, sometimes you lose the close ones. I had given it my all and never quit.

5. What does it take to become a successful doubles player?

Like any team sport, communication and finding someone that you play well with. That involves more than just style of play, it involves a friendship among people. Look at the Byran brothers, they are so successful because yes they are brothers but because they simply get along! Often times on the court between change overs me and my partner would be talking about things not even related to the match we were playing. I was really lucky to have the same partner for three years; he was cool and calm on the court when sometimes my emotions were up and down. We just worked well together, after a while we both just knew where we both were going to be on the court even without communicating. Like any relationship, its all about chemistry and willing to help the other out. Matt was a great friend on and off the court; he knows what me and all of us have gone through...the good, the bad, and ugly.

6. What are your plans for the next year?

Got a full time job in Georgia. Partly I think being an athlete helped because I had missed my final Conference tournament to go on a final interview with the company I got hired into. They realized how much I had given up to go on the interview for their company and I really think that proved a difference between me and the other students for the job who were not athletes.

7. Where do you see yourself 10 years down the road?

Enjoying tennis and golf still, remembering where I came from and how it will help me for the future.

8. Any other comments on GVSU & the tennis team?
Have fun, be competive and make as much as possible from the team, the school and life in general. The more you put into anything, the more you will get out.