Both Grace Christian University tennis teams traveled to the South Bend Racquet Club for matches against Manchester University and Bethel College Saturday afternoon – the men’s first action of the year and the women’s second.
The women’s team started strong, recording wins at 1st and 2nd doubles, and then the singles matches were competitive throughout. Mikyala Reynolds and Olivia Rachoy defeated their opponent 6-4 at #1, and Ellie Simmons and Ashleigh Welty had a clutch performance at #2, winning a tie breaker 10-5. In the end, the Manchester Spartans were able to notch wins in 5 of 6 singles matches to propel them to a 6-2 victory, with Ellie Simmons’ match at #2 singles officially recorded as unfinished after the duration of a very competitive first set. The match against Bethel was unfortunately cut short due to court time running past the time anticipated.
The men’s team was swept by a very good Bethel side and took another loss against Manchester University, but not without a great effort. Jared Lowder came back from a first set loss to win the second set 6-2 at #1 singles, but fell in a tiebreaker. Lowder and teammate Bryce Hoeker fell 6-3 at #1 doubles.
“The team continues to work hard, improve, and grow individually as a team,” said Head Coach Jon Bushen. “We had some really close matches that could have gone either way, and we are proud of the team’s hard work and determination.”
Next up for the Tigers is their first home match this Friday afternoon at Grandville HS. With this being said, discussions for moving the date are in motion, with the weather forecast not cooperating. Please stay tuned for updates.
