Sports Michigan Tech Lode
Listen every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon on WMTU 91.9 FM for the Lode Sports talk radio show
Visit www.mtulode.com for updates throughout the week
April 15, 2009
S t e p h e n A n d e r s o n , S p o rt s E d i t o r - s t e a n d e r @ m t u . e d u
Tennis teams find mixed success Women drop tough match at St. Cloud At this point in the spring schedule, every win becomes a big one when attempting to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. On Wednesday, the women’s tennis Huskies had a tough dose of that as they dropped three three-set matches en route to a 6-3 loss to the St. Cloud State Huskies, who continued their hot spring run. “That was a tough loss,” said head coach Mike Axford. “St. Cloud is ranked third in our region, we lost, but we lost to a team that should beat us.” St. Cloud jumped out quickly to take an early lead in the match as Kristie Eull and Tanya Halloran defeated junior Danielle Stoll and freshman Caitlin Hartley, 8-1, at number three doubles. The duo dropped to 4-7 on the season for the Huskies. Senior Silvia Oliveros and sophomore Nathalia Rondelli evened the match with a win at number one doubles of Jacquelyn Doll and Kelly Freese, 8-5. The Huskies’ pair is now 14-9 on the campaign. The Huskies then took their first lead of the match with a hard-fought win at number two doubles, 9-8, as senior Samantha Jang-Stewart and sophomore Asel Otunchieva defeated
Men finish GLIAC schedule on a high note
DAVER KARNOSKY
Dawn Olsen and Kayla Lenz. The pair is 6-2 on the season. St. Cloud evened the match as Samantha Boushek won in straight sets at number six singles over Hartley, 6-2, 6-3. Hartley is now 4-9 on the season. Rondelli scored her second point of the match after making adjustments in her first set, winning 7-5, 6-3 over Olsen at number two singles. Rondelli now has 17 wins on the season, the most of any Huskies’ singles player. St. Cloud’s Freese defeated Jang-Stewart at number three singles, 7-5, 6-1 to get them within striking distance of the match win. Jang-Stewart fell to 8-11 with the loss. The Huskies dropped all three matches, which needed a third set to lose the match. “We couldn’t adjust [to] St. Cloud when they stopped hitting with us,” said Axford. The Huskies must now wait until next week to see if they will be invited to the NCAA Tournament.
Lode Writer
Men’s Tennis results Feb. 7 St. Scholastica, W 9-0 Feb. 13 Lewis, W 5-4 Feb. 14 LSSU, L 4-5 Mar. 9 Aquinas, L 1-8 Mar. 10 Salve Regina, L 3-6 Mar. 10 Dowling, W 5-4 Mar. 12 Wesleyan, W 5-4 Mar. 12 St. Cloud St., L 2-7 Mar. 19 Northwood, L 0-9 Mar. 20 Wayne St., L 4-5 Mar. 28 Ferris St., L 3-6 Mar. 29 GVSU, L 0-9 Apr. 3 Tiffin, W 9-0 Apr. 4 Findlay, W 7-2 Apr. 10 LSSU, W 6-3 Apr. 18, 19 GLIAC tourn.
Women’s Tennis results Feb. 14 LSSU, W 5-4 Feb. 15 Minn. Dul., W 8-1 Mar. 6 Nova SE, cancelled Mar. 8 Bethel, L 0-9 Mar. 9 Chr. Newport, W 9-0 Mar. 9 MSU Mankato, W 5-4 Mar. 10 Aquinas, W 7-2 Mar. 11 Lincoln, W 9-0 Mar. 28 Minn. Dul., W 8-1 Mar. 29 St. Scholastica, L 4-5 Apr. 8 St. Cloud St., L 3-6 Lode photos by Alex Cotton Top right: Anders Sandholm gears up for a serve in a match this spring. Left: Senior Samantha Jang-Stewart serves in a match earlier this year. Bottom: Sophomore Nathalia Rondelli prepares for a forehand volley return in a match this spring.
Looking to build off of a strong showing the weekend before in Ohio, the men’s tennis Huskies fought hard for a 6-3 win over the Lake Superior State Lakers to finish the GLIAC season with their third consecutive win. “It’s good that we won, but we’re not translating
our good doubles play into good singles play,” said head coach Mike Axford. “It’s good that we won, but we have to take our singles game up one more level.” The Huskies (7-8 overall, 3-4 GLIAC) got things going quickly as senior Brandon Ellefson, who was named GLIAC Player of the Week last week, and freshman Anders Sandholm cruised to an 8-2 win over Brandon Clayton and Robert Nelson at number two doubles. The Huskies’ duo is now 8-6 on the season. Sophomore Chris Verhulst and junior Tim Viola extended the Huskies’ lead to 2-0 as they earned an 8-3 win at number three doubles over Craid Baas and Jack Miller. The pair is now 10-5 on the season with the win.
see TENNIS 3B
Michigan Tech Spring Football Game Saturday, 1 p.m. Sherman Field
Sports Shorts
Football is
Vlaisavljevich receives Goldwater Scholarship
Eli Vlaisavljevich
In addition to his hockey success for the Division I hockey Huskies, third-year defenseman Eli Vlaisavljevich has found tremendous academic success, earning the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Vlaisavljevich has earned a 4.0 on the Dean’s List every semester at Tech in biomedical engineering.
back H U S K I E S
See Page 2B for a game preview and wrap-up of the spring practice season
Ellefson earns GLIAC player of the week honors On April 8, Brandon Ellefson was named the GLIAC player of the week for the men’s tennis team. He won 6-1, 6-1 and 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 during their road trip last weekend. Ellefson was the first and only player from Michigan Tech to earn the honor during the GLIAC regular season schedule.
Brandon Ellefson