CAMP HILL, Pa. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team continued its spring season Friday afternoon, pulling out a tough 4-3 victory at Bucknell. With the win, the Vikings now own a 2-1 record on the season.
"This was a very exciting match today, we were up 3-1, but Bucknell stormed back and took us the distance," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "4-3 matches are always exciting, and it's good to be on the winning side today. After getting a nice sweep in the doubles matches, we found ourselves in a 3-all tie with Mirko's match at No. 6 singles left. Mirko was able to hang around long enough and was able to attack on a few key shots at the end, pulling out the three-set tiebreak victory for the match. Bucknell played very hard and kept coming at us, and I give a lot of credit to Bucknell for their fight today."
Cleveland State was able to get on the board early, picking up the doubles point after sweeping all three doubles matches. The top doubles team of Colton Buffington and Kevin Goth battled for a7-6 (3) victory, while the No. 2 doubles team of Nico Mostardi and Andre Mick and the No. 3 doubles team of Mirko Radosevic and William Malm picked up matching 6-3 wins.
This marked the second straight match that the Vikings were able to pick up the doubles point.
The Vikings were then able to get out to a 3-0 lead after picking up back-to-back singles wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. At the top of the singles lineup, Mostardi picked up a 6-3, 6-2 straight-set win, marking his team-leading ninth singles win of the season. Cleveland State's third point came from Buffington at No. 2 singles, as he posted a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory for his second singles win of the spring.
Bucknell then bounced back with wins at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 singles, making the No. 6 singles match the clinching point of the contest.
After picking up a 6-4 first-set victory, Radosevic dropped the second set, forcing his No. 6 singles match into a third and deciding set. Radosevic was then able to battle for a 7-6 (2) third-set tiebreak victory, clinching the match for the Vikings and picking up his first singles win of the spring.
Cleveland State will close out the weekend tomorrow afternoon, traveling to Penn State for a 1:00 p.m. contest.
Cleveland State 4, Bucknell 3
Doubles
1. Buffington/Goth (CSU) def. Wright/Gerber (BU), 7-6 (3)
2. Mostardi/Mick (CSU) def. Kane/Palmer (BU), 6-3
3. Radosevic/Malm (CSU) def. Adams/Erskine (BU), 6-3
Singles
1. Nico Mostardi (CSU) def. Daniel Wright (BU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Colton Buffington (CSU) def. Max Palmer (BU), 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
3. Andrei Vitiuc (BU) def. William Malm (CSU), 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
4. Max Kane (BU) def. Benjamin Slade (CSU), 6-3, 7-5
5. Ben Gerber (BU) def. Jack Santilli (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
6. Mirko Radosevic (CSU) def. Max McDonald (BU), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2)
