Contact: Renee Adam
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's tennis team earned its first victory of the spring season Sunday afternoon, posting a 4-3 victory over Binghamton. CSU, who won the doubles point for the first time this year, is now 1-3 on the season while Binghamton is now 1-1.
"Doubles was huge for us today, we are a good doubles and have been close against some good opponents the past couple matches and it was good for us to finally pull out the doubles point today," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Matt Kuelker is playing better and better every time he steps on the court and he definitely made progress today giving us a quick second point with his singles victory. Going in to the match, I knew we would have to have some comeback wins, and both Niklas and Jorg did just that - losing the first sets but pulling out the match wins. Overall, I thought we beat a very good team today and it is definitely a good sign for things to come this season for the men's team."
After splitting the first two doubles matches, the duo of Nolan Marks and Joe VanMeter pulled out an 8-7 (2) victory at No. 2 doubles to earn the first point of the match for the Vikings. Marks and VanMeter held off a late Binghamton run during their doubles match and held strong during the tiebreaker to earn their first doubles victory of the season.
With the Bearcats tying the match at 1-1 following a victory at No. 5 singles, Matt Kuelker gave CSU a 2-1 lead with a quick 6-1, 6-4 win at the No. 2 slot. After Binghamton was once again able to even the match with a win at No. 4 singles, Niklas Jonssonposted his second singles victory of the spring season, earning a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 come-from-behind victory at the No. 6 position.
Ali Shabib then dropped a tough three-set match at No. 3 singles, putting the contest at 3-3 with the No. 1 singles match being the deciding factor. Jorg van der Vloet, who has played at the No. 1 spot all four matches this spring for CSU, earned a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory, marking his first dual match win of the season while clinching the match for the Vikings.
The Vikings will hit the road again next week, traveling to IPFW for a 10:00 a.m. contest on Friday, February 1.
Cleveland State 4, Binghamton 3
Doubles:
1. Shabib/Jonsson (CSU) def. Bornkessel/Dinia (BU), 8-6
2. Marks/VanMeter (CSU) def. Lesage/Haggai (BU), 8-7 (2)
3. Hazarika/Hureau (BU) def. Ford/Kuelker (CSU), 8-5
Singles:
1. van der Vloet (CSU) def. Lesage (BU), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
2. Kuelker (CSU) def. van Kann (BU), 6-1, 6-4
3. Maisin (BU) def. Shabib (CSU), 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3)
4. Dinia (BU) def. VanMeter (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Hazarika (BU) def. Ford (CSU), 6-1, 6-0
6. Jonsson (CSU) def. Haggai (BU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
