On this week’s episode of Ferris Sports Update, guest host Brody Keiser sits down to chat with Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kurt Westendorp, Ferris Tennis Head Coach Mark Doren, and Ferris Hockey Freshman Luigi Benincasa.
Women’s Basketball
First up on Ferris Sports Update, guest host Brody Keiser is joined by the head coach of the Ferris State women’s basketball team Kurt Westendorp, who are fresh off of an NCAA Regional Championship win. The team played in the tournament and took on some of the top teams in college basketball. Ferris State Women’s Basketball Team played 3 straight conference champions that won both their regular season and their tournaments. Brody and Kurt talk about the tournament game the team played against Ashland on Saturday March 16th and won. They looked at some of the game’s highlights and they played close to a perfect game. The Halftime score was 35-26 and the Final score was 64-59.
After that game, the team got some rest and recovery on Sunday and played against Grand Valley on Monday March 18th and won that game too and their main goal was to keep scoring. Kurt is really proud of the women on the team, and he has great players that knows how to keep scoring.
The team continues tournament play in the Elite 8 against Tampa University on March 25.
Tennis
Next, Brody talked with Mark Doren, the Head Coach of Ferris State Tennis as the tennis team just got back from their spring trip down to Florida at a little conference with some of the top teams in a scrimmage-like tournament. As they get ready with the new season Coach Doren talks about the change with the new students coming in and how the team dynamic and relationship shifted and how they are working on getting it back. Between both the Men’s and Woman’s Tennis starting up after the break both teams have had different level of outcomes at their first match up against Tiffin with the Men’s team winning 4-3 and Women’s Team Losing 2-5. On Saturday they went against Walsh with the Men’s and Woman’s team winning with a score of 7-0 for the men and 6-1 for the women. As the highlights wrap up from the matches from this weekend, they take a dive into the strength of the program with both the men’s league and the woman’s league with the overall strength being the aggressiveness on the field being able to keep their opponents on their toes and try to strengthen the gap between the opponents’ score. As they wrap up the interview, they talk about how the captain has been a great help with team moral and keeping the team active and working towards their goals.
The Tennis program will be versing Davenport University on March 22 and Purdue Northwest on March 23 on the road with both matches being tough opponents
Hockey
Lastly, Brody chats with Freshman Hockey player Luigi Benincasa to reflect on his rookie collegiate season. Benincasa had a spectacular freshman season, being named to the CCHA All-Rookie team. Luigi notes that one thing he was focused on was not taking his time on the ice for granted, he wanted to have fun and make the most of his opportunities. A native of Edmonton, Alberta, he talks about how the transition from Canada to the United States was a bit weird, as he had not been in school for a few years and had never really experienced college life. He notes that despite the big distance between him and his family, their support was felt as if he was right at home. As for hockey, Luigi says that adjusting to playing on the top lines with some of the veteran players was not difficult, with the chemistry between them being developed fairly quickly. He talks about how the team plans to work on building defensive ability as the team is losing 11 seniors going into next season.
