Sports

Time for Detroit Mercy Tennis Teams to Shine on ESPN 3

April 28, 2017, 7:48 AM by  Allan Lengel
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Artem Vasheshnikov, the team's number one player. (UD Mercy photo)

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Ksenia Provdokhina

► Update: The women's team was eliminated Saturday afternoon by Youngstown State University, which swept the semifinal match 4-0.

Basketball is king when it comes to athletics at the  University of Detroit Mercy athletics. But with that season over, men's and women's tennis teams get to shine.

Both play this weekend in the Horizon League Tennis Championship in Ann Arbor that will be broadcast around the world on ESPN 3. 

"It's exciting," says Aaron Paajanen, in his second season coaching the men and women.

The men's team is coming off its best season since the early 1990s, having won 11 matches. That's the second best record since the program began in 1921. Last year, they only won three matches and finished in last place. 

The women won 10 matches and only won five last year.  

The men's team plays on Saturday 11 a.m. against the winner of the Cleveland State-Green Bay on Friday Should the team win, it would likely play Valparaso, one of the best teams in the country. The winner of that Sunday game would go on to play in the NCAA tournaments. 

In the first round, the women play Oakland University at 3 p.m. Friday. 



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