Lakers earn NCAA tournament bid

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

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Women's tennis team earns second straight NCAA bid

Lakers will travel to Missouri to play Grand Valley State

INDIANAPOLIS - The Lake Superior State women's tennis team received a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight year and will open against Grand Valley State on Thursday, May 3, in Springfield, Mo.

The LSSU Lakers (15-7) are the No. 6 seed in the Great Lakes Region, while the GVSU Lakers (20-9) are the No. 3 seed. Host Drury is the No. 2 seed, and top-seeded Northwood is also serving as a first-round host.

LSSU lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Grand Valley State during league play last September. The Lakers were 7-6 during their traditional fall season, and posted an exceptional 8-1 record during a spring season they put together in order to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

"This team had to deal with more challenges than last year's team," LSSU second year coach Charlie Drury said. "They continued to be a tight-knit group, but they had to adjust to having new team members and letting the family grow. They went through some growing pains."

Seniors Celina Grondin, Alex Chiakmakis and Megan Smith, and junior Megan LaMothe are making a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. Junior Lindsay Adams and sophomore Weronika Lomacka, who are both transfer students, are making their first NCAA appearances. Sophomore Carolyn Pumford, who competed for the Lakers last season and during the fall, is out with a shoulder injury.

"Most of this group has been together for three or four years," Drury said. "They are good leaders and good students. They made some good decisions."

Drury knew his team had gelled when everyone began showing up for optional runs at 7 a.m.

"I'm very close with them, which is nice," he added. "They are a great group to work with. In many cases, it's about much more than playing tennis."

Lomacka is a native of Poland who played her rookie season at Florida Southern. She became eligible during the spring season and is 7-2 at No. 3 singles. She is also 6-1 while playing No. 3 doubles with Smith - a former opponent. Grondin (16-5) and LaMothe (17-4), who both earned All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors last fall, play Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. In doubles play, Grondin at Adams are 10-10 at No. 1, and LaMothe and Chiakmakis are 16-4 at No. 2.

Chiakmakis is also 14-4 in singles play, while Smith is 11-10 and Adams is 8-13.

If the Lakers advance to the second round, they will play the winner of the first-round match between Drury (17-5) and Wayne State (20-7).

According to Drury, this year's team is much more prepared for post-season play than last year's squad.

"They've had more rest," he said. "We stretched things out a little more, and they're more eager this time. We were burned out last year."

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