April 9, 2003

Results

Allendale, Mich. - #27 Grand Valley State snapped a 21-match losing skid to archrival #18 Ferris State with a 5-4 victory in Big Rapids on Tuesday. The Lakers won two out of the three doubles matches, including an 11-9 tiebreaker win at #2 doubles, and then pulled out three of the six singles contests. Kim VanSprange clinched the match for GVSU with a come from behind win at #5 singles. GVSU had not defeated the Bulldogs since Oct. 20, 1980. The Lakers, ranked #27 in the country and #3 in the region, improve to 18-4 on the year.

"This is a great win for our program," said first-year head coach John Black. "Ferris is one of the premier tennis teams in the nation and has dominated the GLIAC, so to win today showed we are heading in the right direction."

The contest started with GVSU's #3 doubles team of Kim VanSprange and Laura Sukup earning an 8-5 win. Ferris State took the point at #1 doubles, but the Lakers pulled out the key match in the second position. The team of Marie Cameron and Kellen Lynch earned the 9-8 victory by escaping with the tiebreaker by a count of 11-9. Cameron and Lynch are ranked eighth in the region as a duo and have a record of 12-1 on the year.

Nikki Fairchild started the Lakers off in singles play with a 7-5, 6-0 win in the #2 position. Afer Lynch won her singles contest 7-6 (3), 6-3 at #4, GVSU needed one more win to take the match. VanSprange fell in the first set, and had to come back from 3-2 deficit's in both the second and the third frames to pull out the win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The Lakers will finish their regular season with a match against Aquinas on Thursday, April 10, before playing in the NCAA Regional Tournament on May 2-4.