Men's tennis falls in spring opener to West Virginia State

Saturday, March 1

Millersville, PA

10:00 AM

Millersville University

West Virginia State

Men's tennis falls in spring opener to West Virginia State

3/1/2025 3:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Connor Glunt, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The Millersville men's tennis team was defeated 5–2 by West Virginia State in the first match of its spring season.

The Marauders started the day strong, winning the top matchup in doubles play. Lino Morin and Sebas Castro took on the challenge and came out on top. The duo took on Axel Dormann and Forkane Lebdi, winning 6–2. Head coach Matt Helsel has said Morin has earned the chance to be the top player in both doubles and singles action for Millersville, and today he showed why.

"Lino and Sebas played a fantastic doubles match, getting off to a quick start and never letting their opponents gain any traction," said Helse. "They were very impressive. Our other doubles teams unfortunately started slow, and that's a death sentence at this level. We have to do better at attacking right from the start."

The other upperclassman on the team Helsel said the team will lean on is Jasper de Koning. The graduate student was one of two Marauders to win their individual match, as he came away with a 2–6, 6–4, 7–5 comeback victory over Heinrich Lindeque out of the third spot. The other Marauder to register a win was Paul Bagnouls, working out of the sixth spot in the lineup and defeating Facundo Campana 4–6, 6–4, 1–0. Helsel was happy with the performance he got out of de Koning but hopes the team can become more opportunistic as the season progresses.

"Jasper did a great job in singles, and I thought his momentum might carry over to some teammates, but [the Yellow Jackets] stayed strong when we applied pressure, so hats off to them," said Helsel. "We had chances, lots of chances and opportunities, and if you don't relish those opportunities and seize them when they present themselves, winning becomes very difficult. We have a few players that need to learn to stay in the game until those opportunities arise, identify them, and capitalize. Sometimes we make this game harder than it needs to be."

After splitting a pair of duals in the fall, Millersville now stands at 1–2 on the season. The Marauders will look to bounce back at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 6 in Bel Air, Md. when they take on Harford Community College.