BLOG 4: Women’s tennis team gets much-needed win

By Sandy Gholston

BIG RAPIDS – After opening the season with a 3-0 record, Ferris entered a rough stretch of matches against the top-tier Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams.

Ferris was victorious over Saginaw Valley State, Lake Superior State and Michigan Tech – all by 6-3 scores – prior to the tough times. From there, the Bulldogs fell 8-1 to Northwood, 9-0 to Grand Valley State and 9-0 to Wayne State.

Saturday, however, Ferris finally reversed the tide back in their favor with an 8-1 GLIAC win at Findlay.

The Bulldogs took two of three doubles matches as the No. 1 duo of Amy Ingle and Natalie Diorio was an 8-1 winner while Ann Grant and Jessie Conklin claimed an 8-3 victory. In No. 2, Tiffany Rheynard and Jennifer Prisner suffered a hard-fought 9-7 decision.

In singles, Ferris performed strongly in taking all six flights from the Oilers. At No. 1, Ingle won 6-2, 6-3; in No. 2, Rheynard was a 6-1, 6-0 winner; in No. 3, Melissa Flowers claimed a three-set win; in No. 4, Diorio won 6-4, 7-5; at No. 5, Grant claimed a three-set victory; and, at No. 6, Prisner won 6-1, 6-1.

The next two contests will be critical for the Bulldogs to get back on track and finish the fall regular-season portion of their schedule on a high with what would be a nice streak.

Ferris resumes GLIAC play Oct. 17-18 when they host Tiffin and Ashland in conference matches in Big Rapids. Friday’s match starts at 3 p.m. while Saturday’s showdown gets going at 10 a.m.

Following the contests with Tiffin and Ashland, the Bulldogs and their league foes begin GLIAC Tournament competition (Oct. 25-26) in Midland.

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com