Sophomore Mark Veitengruber enters this weekend's matches with a team-best eight singles victories this season

Men's Tennis 2/12/2016 9:00:00 AM

Men's Tennis Treks To Michigan For Road Matches This Weekend

Wildcats Set To Face Hillsdale & Grand Valley State

THE SERVE: The Daemen College men's tennis team continues the early portion of its spring semester schedule by visiting Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference affiliates Hillsdale and Grand Valley State this weekend.

Saturday, February 13 (at Margot V. Biermann Center - Hillsdale, Mich.)

Daemen at Hillsdale, 11:00 a.m.

Margot V. Biermann Center Details

Sunday, February 14 (at Premier Athletic & Tennis Club - Grandville, Mich.)

Daemen at Grand Valley State, 8:00 a.m.

Premier Athletic & Tennis Club Details

DAEMEN GROUND STROKES (2-2, 0-0 ECC)

Daemen returns 11 players from its 2014-15 roster which achieved a record of 7-16, including a 1-5 mark in East Coast Conference play
In addition to the returners, the Wildcats welcome four fresh faces to the mix this season
The Wildcats were voted tied for fifth in the ECC preseason poll released in late January
Daemen will play five of their first nine matches this spring at home before venturing on the road for eight-straight
In singles play, sophomore Mark Veitengruber, the team's MVP a season ago, is off to a fast start this season with an 8-3 record
The Wildcats figure to lean heavily on returners Gregory Lowe, John LeMar, Joey Gentile and Adam Kerr in the early going
Redshirt-freshman Andrew LeMar is also a player to watch after going 5-4 in singles play last fall
Lowe and Gentile will likely form the Wildcats' top doubles pairing at the outset
The Wildcats also await the healthy returns of freshmen Justin Milner and David Gonzalez Villegas who each suffered injuries last fall
Daemen blanked Elmira 9-0 at home last Saturday in the team's opening match of the spring season
The win over Elmira evened Daemen's 2015-16 overall record at 2-2 and it put the Wildcats on a two-match winning streak
Veitengruber, Lowe, Kerr and the LeMar brothers were all winners in both singles and doubles against Elmira

HILLSDALE GROUND STROKES (0-1, 0-0 GLIAC)

Hillsdale is in the midst of sponsoring a varsity men's tennis team for the first time in more than a decade, and they compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference
The Chargers' athletic administration announced their intentions to sponsor men's tennis a year ahead of time, giving newly-appointed head coach Keith Turner the opportunity to recruit for almost a full calendar year
Turner comes to Hillsdale after previous head coaching gigs at Albion, Limestone and Lees-McRae
He owns a career record of 111-111, including a 61-54 mark on the men's side
The Chargers' roster features five freshman and one sophomore, making them one of the youngest teams in the country
After competing solely in tournaments during the fall, the Chargers made their dual-match debut with a 7-2 loss to Lewis last Saturday
The Chargers picked up points in the match from their No. 2 (John Ciraci & Gianpiero Placidi) and No. 3 (Jerry Hewitt & Zach Rabitoy) doubles teams
Saturday's match against Daemen will mark the Chargers' first home match of the season

GRAND VALLEY STATE GROUND STROKES (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC)

Grand Valley State is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference
The Lakers return six players, including four starters, from last season's team that went 17-6 overall and 8-1 in GLIAC play while capturing third-place honors in the GLIAC Tournament after entering as the No. 2 seed
The Lakers earned an at-large bid to the 2015 NCAA Division II National Tournament, entering the Midwest Regional as the No. 7 seed, and upsetting No. 2 Northwood in the opening round, before bowing out against No. 3 Indianapolis
The NCAA Tournaent berth last season was the seventh in team history for GVSU
Among the returners is junior Jack Heiniger who finished second on the team in singles victories last season after going 23-8
The Lakers played in three tournaments last fall, and they'll open the spring season by playing in the Grand Rapids City Tournament this weekend before opening dual-match play against Daemen on Sunday
The Lakers have been led so far by a pair of freshmen in Sebastien Lescoulie and Nicholas Urban who have combined to go 18-3 in singles competition
In doubles play, GVSU has been paced by the veteran pairing of Zach Phillips and Alex van de Steenoven who own a 6-2 record together thus far

ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES

Saturday's match marks the first all-time meeting between Daemen and Hillsdale
Sunday's match marks the first all-time meeting between Daemen and Grand Valley State

DID YOU KNOW?

This weekend's opponents are both affiliates of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference...Daemen head coach Stephen Beatty began his collegiate playing career for GLIAC affiliate Northwood, helping the Timberwolves capture the GLIAC championship during the 2006-07 season
This weekend's matches mark Daemen's first-ever in the state of Michigan

UP NEXT FOR DAEMEN: The Wildcats are back in action next weekend, hosting Cedarville (Saturday, Feb. 20) before visiting Mercyhurst (Sunday, Feb. 21)

SOCIAL MEDIA: @DaemenTennis | #DCWildcatNation | #WNYsD2Team

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Players Mentioned

Joey Gentile: 5' 9"; Senior

Adam Kerr: 5' 11"; Junior

Andrew LeMar: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

John LeMar: 5' 10"; Junior

Gregory Lowe: 5' 9"; Senior

Mark Veitengruber: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Justin Milner: 5' 11"; Freshman

David Gonzalez Villegas: 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Joey Gentile
: 5' 9"; Senior

Adam Kerr
: 5' 11"; Junior

Andrew LeMar
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

John LeMar
: 5' 10"; Junior

Gregory Lowe
: 5' 9"; Senior

Mark Veitengruber
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Justin Milner
: 5' 11"; Freshman

David Gonzalez Villegas
: 5' 6"; Freshman