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FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Behind strong singles play the Cleveland State men's tennis team was able to pick up its second win of the season Friday afternoon, earning a 5-2 victory at IPFW. The Vikings are now 2-3 on the season - having won their last two matches.
"We didn't have our best match today, but we found a way to win and really came together during singles play," assistant coach Frank Polito said. "After not playing well in doubles everyone was able to rebound and have some great singles matches including Matt Kuelker, Ali and Joe who picked up three quick points for us with their victories. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into next week and continue picking up the wins."
After dropping the doubles point, CSU bounced back and earned three straight singles victories to take a quick 3-1 lead. To open singles play, Ali Shabib earned a 6-3, 6-0 win at the No. 3 spot, while Matt Kuelker followed him with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles. Kuelker's win at IPFW marked the 46th of his career and is now tied for eighth all-time at CSU on the singles wins list.
Joe VanMeter posted CSU's third point of the day, picking up his first singles win of the spring with a 6-3, 7-5 win at the No. 4 position. Matt Ford then clinched the match for the Vikings at No. 5 singles, earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Jorg van der Vloet picked up Cleveland State's final win, pulling out a three-set victory at the top spot in the lineup (6-4, 4-6, 6-4).
Despite losing the doubles point, the duo of Ali Shabib and Niklas Jonsson was able to win their match at the No. 1 spot (8-3), improving to 13-3 this year.
Cleveland State will continue its brief roadswing next weekend, traveling to Western Michigan on Friday, Feb. 8 and playing Illinois State on Saturday, Feb. 9 (at Western Michigan).
Cleveland State 5, IPFW 2
Doubles:
1. SHABIB, Ali/JONSSON, Niklas (CSU) def. FREITAS, Joao/KANG, Daniel (IPFW) 8-3
2. ANDREWS, Connor/MUADI, Martin (IPFW) def. MARKS, Nolan/VANMETER, Joe (CSU) 8-2
3. GUELL, Gerard/COBOS, Andres (IPFW) def. KUELKER, Matt/FORD, Matt (CSU) 8-6
Singles:
1. VAN DER VLOET (CSU) def. KANG (IPFW) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
2. KUELKER (CSU) def. ANDREWS (IPFW) 6-3, 6-2
3. SHABIB (CSU) def. COBOS (IPFW) 6-3, 6-0
4. VANMETER (CSU) def. GUELL (IPFW) 6-3, 7-5
5. FORD (CSU) def. FREITAS (IPFW) 6-4, 6-2
6. MUADI (IPFW) def. MARKS (CSU) 6-0, 6-3
