Contact: Renee Adam
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WESTLAKE, Ohio - Behind a strong doubles performance and three singles wins from Matt Kuelker, Ali Shabib and Niklas Jonsson the Cleveland State men's tennis team was able to pick up a victory Saturday afternoon - topping UIC, 4-3. With the win the Vikings are now 7-11 on the season and 3-1 in the Horizon League.
"Doubles continues to be our strength, all three teams played well today and we were able to get on the board early and hold on to that lead," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I knew UIC would be a tough team to beat, and we didn't put them away early on in the match when we had chances and they really stuck with us until the end."
For the fourth time during Horizon League play the Vikings were able to get on the board early, picking up the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. The No. 1 doubles team ofAli Shabib and Niklas Jonsson extended their win streak to five matches with an 8-4 victory, while the No. 2 duo of Nolan Marks and Matt Kuelker extended their win streak to four with a matching 8-4 victory. Both doubles teams remain perfect in league play - owning 4-0 records.
Kuelker quickly followed that up with the first singles win on the day, earning a 6-1, 6-2 victory at the No. 2 spot. The win was his team-leading 15th of the season and his fourth out of his last six matches. The Flames answered with a win at No. 6 singles, before Jonsson was able to put away his opponent at the No. 4 spot with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) decision.
UIC was then able to earn victories at No. 5 and No. 1 singles - tying the match at 3-3 with Shabib and Christopher Cole remaining on the court at No. 3 singles. After dropping the first set, Shabib battled back and picked up a 7-6 (4) win in the second set and then dominated play in the third set with a 6-2 win to clinch the match for the Vikings. The win marked Shabib's fifth out of his last six matches and kept him perfect in league play (4-0) this season.
"Matt Kuelker was able to give us a quick point at No. 2 singles and then Niklas stormed back to win his match after going down 4-0 to start the first set. Niklas is definitely the person that we want playing a tiebreaker, he never gives up and really focuses on the task at hand. Although he didn't get the win, Jorg really put some pressure on his opponent at the top of the lineup and proved what he is capable of. Ali turned it around in his match and got a huge win for us today - a win that he would not have gotten last year because of his maturity level on the court, which has helped us immensely this year," Etzkin said.
The Vikings will host Valparaiso in their final home match of the season tomorrow (Sunday, April 14) - facing the Crusaders at 3:00 p.m. at the Malaga Tennis Center on the CSU Campus.
Cleveland State 4, UIC 3
Doubles:
1. SHABIB, Ali/JONSSON, Niklas (CSU) def. Alexander Raa/Isaac Lloveras (UIC) 8-4
2. MARKS, Nolan/KUELKER, Matt (CSU) def. Alan Reifer/Maurizio Feoli (UIC) 8-4
3. Rahul Kamath/Gautham Oroskar (UIC) def. VAN DER VLOET, Jorg/VANMETER, Joe (CSU) 8-7 (1)
Singles:
1. Alexander Raa (UIC) def. van der Vloet, Jorg (CSU) 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4
2. Kuelker, Matt (CSU) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) 6-1, 6-2
3. Shabib, Ali (CSU) def. Christopher Cole (UIC) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
4. Jonsson, Niklas (CSU) def. Isaac Lloveras (UIC) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
5. Maurizio Feoli (UIC) def. Marks, Nolan (CSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Gautham Oroskar (UIC) def. VanMeter, Joe (CSU) 6-4, 6-2
