Grand Rapids, Mich. — After a week of playing outside in Florida over Spring Break, the Aquinas tennis teams had to readjust to the playing surface Friday (Mar. 24) inside the Grand Rapids Racquet and Fitness Center. 

The Saints returned to their home court to face WHAC foe Lawrence Tech for their third out of six conference matchups during the regular season.

The men won 4-3 to get back to the .500 mark at 5-5 overall (1-2 WHAC), while the women dropped a 5-2 decision to falter to 2-7 overall (0-3 WHAC) on the season.

MEN: Aquinas 4, Lawrence Tech 3

The men took the first point of the match with a pair of quick double wins. No. 1 Tom Gangov and Josep Coll Llopis took care of Eivind Tandberg and Takuya King, 6-1. No. 2 Max Goldbeck-Lowe and Nicholas Klak brushed off Evan Morgan and Juan J.E. Pastor, 6-2. The No. 3 doubles match was left unfinished.

Play heated up in the singles action. Lawrence Tech evened the score when No. 2 Tandberg topped Coll Llopis (6-3, 6-3) in the first singles match to finish.

But, AQ rattled off the next two singles win to be within a point of victory. No. 1 Gangov defeated Morgan (7-5, 6-4) and No. 3 Goldbeck-Lowe outlasted King (6-2, 4-6, 10-6).

Gangov has now won his last five single matches and last four double matches.

The Blue Devils kept their hopes alive with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 4 as Thierry Luthi narrowly knocked off Mariano Arroyo.

But, it wasn't enough. Klak sealed the win for the Saints at No. 5 singles with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over J.E. Pastor.

Diego Colombo closed out the match with a No. 6 singles win over AQ's Jackson VanBergen by scores of 7-5, 6-1.

WOMEN: Lawrence Tech 5, Aquinas 2

After the Saints reluctantly gave the first two points to the Blue Devils — unable to sweep doubles after forfeiting the No. 3 matchup, as well as forfeiting No. 6 singles due to lack of players — AQ rallied by winning the first two single matches to tie the score at 2-2.

AQ senior No. 1 Joska Volder picked up a pair of 6-3 set wins over Carolyn Minners. She has won three out of her last four single battles. That was followed by Sofia Gomez winning No. 2 singles over Rafela Tedesco by scores of 6-0, 6-4. It's the first time Gomez has swept a set 6-0 this season.

From that point on, it was best two-out-of-three that would decide the overall match. Lawrence Tech went on to win all three, despite some great play on AQ's side of the net.

No. 3 Carlota Arzabe (6-3, 4-6, 6-10), No. 4 Mimi Pacheco (3-6, 5-7) and No. 5 Alyssa Jack (2-6, 3-6) couldn't find a way to pull out a win for the Saints.

The two forfeited points at the start of the match was too much to overcome. Aquinas, however, is hopeful they won't have to keep forfeiting away points in the near future with a new addition: Ava Seychel. The freshman from Livonia, Mich., also plays on the AQ women's hockey team and is in the process of getting up to speed.

Next up, the Saints continue conference play next Friday (Mar. 31) at home against Lourdes. Both teams are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. from the Grand Rapids Racquet and Fitness Center.