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MUNCIE, Ind. - The Cleveland State men's tennis team had a strong first day at the Ball State Fall Invitational Friday, as all four doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals and Ali Shabibadvanced to the quarterfinals of the Flight A singles draw.
"We had good results from everyone today, but the play from Ali definitely stands out. Ali has made improvements in each of the tournaments this fall and I am very happy of how he is performing on the court right now," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I'm really excited to see our doubles play tomorrow after opening the invite 4-0. We continue to do well in doubles no matter who we put together on the court, which is something that we haven't seen the last couple years."
Shabib collected back-to-back wins over Louisville and Marquette to begin singles play on Friday, earning a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory over Luis Elizondo (Louisville) in the first round and a 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10) victory over Cam Tehrani (Marquette) in the round of 16.
Three other Vikings also picked up first round victories, including Matt Kuelker who claimed a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Andrew Hanley of Dayton in the Flight A draw. Nolan Marks and Jay Jones each marked their victories in the Flight B draw, Marks in a 7-6 (4), 7-5 decision over Martin Muadi of IPFW and Jones in a 6-2, 6-1 decision over Dayton's Enzo Milano.
After dropping their first round matches, Joe VanMeter and Jorg van der Vloet are still alive in the Flight A consolation bracket, VanMeter picking up a 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory over Connor Andrews from IPFW and van der Vloet claiming a 6-1, 6-1 win over IUPUI's Thomas Gans.
In doubles play, CSU has two teams in the quarterfinals of the Flight A draw and two teams in the quarterfinals of the Flight B draw. Shabib and Niklas Jonsson extended their win-streak to nine straight Friday evening, picking up an 8-4 win over Butler. VanMeter and van der Vloet are also representing Cleveland State in the Flight A draw, earning an 8-5 victory in their first round match over IUPUI.
Jones and Marks earned an 8-6 victory over Dayton in the first round of the Flight B doubles draw, while Matt Ford and Kuelker picked up an 8-2 win over IPFW in the first round.
Action continues tomorrow at the Ball State Fall Invite, with play set to begin at 8:30 a.m.
Flight A Singles:
Shabib (CSU) def. Elizondo (UL), 7-6 (6), 6-3
Shabib (CSU) def. Tehrani (MU), 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10)
Kuelker (CSU) def. Hanely (UD), 6-0, 6-0
Elliott (BSU) def. Kuelker (CSU), 6-1, 6-3
Koross (UD) def. VanMeter (CSU), 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (9)
Smith (BSU) def. Ford (CSU), 6-1, 6-1
Bernier (UD) def. van der Vloet (CSU), 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10)
Flight A Consolation:
VanMeter (CSU) def. Andrews (IPFW), 7-5, 7-6 (5)
Wilson (ISU) def. Ford (CSU), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (5)
van der Vloet (CSU) def. Gans (IUPUI), 6-1, 6-1
Flight B Singles:
Marks (CSU) def. Muadi (IPFW), 7-6 (4), 7-5
Choudhary (IUPUI) def. Marks (CSU), 6-1, 0-6, 1-0 (7)
Jones (CSU) def. Milano (UD), 6-2, 6-1
Sansone (BSU) def. Jones (CSU), 6-4, 6-4
Brym (BSU) def. Jonsson (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
Flight B Consolation:
O'Neill (IUPUI) def. Jonsson (CSU), 6-1, 6-3
Flight A Doubles:
Jonsson/Shabib (CSU) def. Marx/O'Neill (BU), 8-4
VanMeter/van der Vloet (CSU) def. Jaruvang/O'Neill (IUPUI), 8-5
Flight B Doubles:
Jones/Marks (CSU) def. MacDonald/Milano (UD), 8-6
Ford/Kuelker (CSU) def. Guell/Raa (IPFW), 8-2