Contact: Renee Adam
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Despite a record-breaking crowd of 218 and three singles victories, the Cleveland State men's tennis team came up short against Buffalo, falling to the Bulls, 4-3 Saturday evening at the Chagrin Valley Athletic Club.
"The crowd support tonight was wonderful, when we were down 3-0 the crowd support definitely pulled us back into the match and gave us some extra energy throughout the night," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Despite getting in an early hole after losing the doubles point, we had a bright spot in our No. 2 team, as they have been on a roll lately winning three straight matches."
During doubles action, CSU got its lone win from Joe VanMeter and Nolan Marks, who earned an 8-6 victory at No. 2 doubles. VanMeter and Marks have now won three straight matches, and stand at 4-3 this spring.
Cleveland State's three singles victories came from Jorg van der Vloet, Marks and Niklas Jonsson. van der Vloet pulled out a three-set victory at No. 1 singles, earning a 1-6, 6-0, 7-5 come from behind decision. Marks also posted a three-set victory, earning a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 5 spot, while Jonsson notched a 7-6, 6-4 win at the No. 6 position.
"After dropping two quick singles matches we weren't able to get any momentum going, but Niklas was able to get us on the board with his victory at No. 6 singles. Jorg then had a great comeback win, playing really clean tennis in set two and battling for the victory in set three. Jorg has been playing some great tennis all spring and this was a huge win for him tonight. Nolan of course had the crowd behind him and he was able to come back from down a set to earn the victory on his home court," Etzkin said.
Marks, who was playing in his home club Saturday, picked up just his second victory of the spring season, and his first since the first dual match of the year.
"We are getting better each week and although we don't have as many wins as we would like, we know how good we are and how good we can be. With all of the hard work that the team is putting in during practice these close matches will turn into wins for us very soon," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State will now take a week off from competition, returning to the courts next Saturday (Feb. 23) when the Vikings host St. Bonaventure at 7:00 p.m. at Paramount Tennis Club.
Buffalo 4, Cleveland State 3
Doubles
1. Damien David/Akhil Mehta (UB) d Ali Shabib/Niklas Johnson (CSU), 8-4
2. Joe Vanmeter/Nolan Marks (CSU) d. Vusa Hove/Sebastian Ionescu (UB), 8-6
3. Sergio Arevalillo/Ashwin Sharma (UB) d. Matt Ford/Jorg van der Vloet (CSU), 8-6
Singles
1. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU) d. Vusa Hove (UB), 1-6, 6-0, 7-5
2. Damien David (UB) d. Matt Kuelker (CSU), 6-4, 6-2
3. Sebastian Ionescu (UB) d. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
4. Pablo Alvarez (UB) d, Joe VanMeter (CSU), 6-4, 6-1
5. Nolan Marks (CSU) d. Ashwin Sharma (UB), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
6. Niklas Jonsson (CSU) d. Akhil Mehta (UB), 7-6 (5), 6-4
Exhibition
Sergio Arevalillo (UB) def. Jay Jones (CSU), 8-4
