CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team split its final doubleheader of the 2017 spring season Sunday, picking up a 5-2 victory over Denison and falling to Detroit Mercy, 4-3.

Detroit Mercy 4, Cleveland State 3
Cleveland State got out to an early 1-0 lead for the second straight match, picking up the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. At the top of the lineup, Mirko Radosevic and Benjamin Slade earned a 7-6 (7) victory, while Nico Mostardi and Andre Mick posted a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles.

"The Detroit Mercy loss was a tough match for us, especially considering the loss we had because of injury at the No. 5 spot. It was one of our better team fights of the year, and we were in a position to win the match, but just didn't win the breakers that we needed," head coach Brian Etzkin said.

To start singles play the Titans were able to pick up back-to-back wins at the No. 5 and No. 1 spots, before Cleveland State evened the score at 2-2 with a victory at No. 4 singles.

Cleveland State's first singles point came from Slade, as he notched a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles. Slade, who now stands at 4-1 against league opponents this season, posted his third consecutive victory and the sixth out of his last eight matches.

The Vikings were then able to take a slight 3-2 advantage after a win at No. 6 singles, with Kevin Goth earning a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

The advantage was short lived though, as Detroit Mercy picked up tiebreak victories on the final two singles courts for the 4-3 match victory.

Doubles
1. Radosevic/Slade (CSU) def. Ponton/Vasheshnikov (UDM), 7-6 (5)
2. Koscielski/Conley (UDM) def. Buffington/Malm (CSU), 6-4
3. Mostardi/Mick (CSU) def. Stelmaszak/Zychowicz (UDM), 6-3

Singles
1. Artem Vasheshnikov (UDM) def. Nico Mostardi (CSU), 6-4, 6-1
2. Patryk Koscielski (UDM) def. Colton Buffington (CSU), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
3. Nathan Ponton (UDM) def. Mirko Radosevic (CSU), 6-4, 7-6 (7)
4. Benjamin Slade (CSU) def. Kacper Stelmaszak (UDM), 6-3, 6-2
5. Adam Zychowicz (UDM) def. William Malm (CSU), 5-3, ret.
6. Kevin Goth (CSU) def. Chance Conley (UDM), 6-4, 7-5

Cleveland State 5, Denison 2
The Vikings once again got out to the quick 1-0 lead after doubles play, picking up matching 6-3 victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots against Denison. Colton Buffington and Kevin Goth picked up the win at No. 2 doubles, while Nico Mostardi and Andre Mick earned the win at No. 3 doubles.

"It was good to be able to use the full depth of our lineup against Denison today, and I was very happy to finish off the second half of the doubleheader with a win. We need to continue working hard during practice this week because we have another tough Horizon League fight on our hands next weekend at Youngstown State," Etzkin said.

Cleveland State then picked up 4 straight singles wins to clinch the 5-2 victory over Denison.

Mostardi picked up the Vikings' first singles win with a 6-0, 6-0 decision at the top of the lineup, while Mick posted a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 6 singles.

The clinching point of the match came from Buffington at the No. 2 spot, as he picked up a 6-1, 6-2 victory, while Benjamin Slade posted the last singles win with a 6-1, 6-3 decision at No. 4 singles.

"I believe as a team we performed exceptionally well today, and fought hard until the end of both matches," Benjamin Slade said. "We had some great coaching on the sidelines, and as always, we cheered each other on from court-to-court, helping to get the win."

Doubles
1. Radosevic/Slade (CSU) vs. Brown/Burstein (DEN), 4-3, unf.
2. Buffington/Goth (CSU) def. Smith/McDonald (DEN), 6-3
3. Mostardi/Mick (CSU) def. Siddiquie/Bahin (DEN), 6-3

Singles
1. Nico Mostardi (CSU) def. Kevin Brown (DEN), 6-0, 6-0
2. Colton Buffington (CSU) def. Jamie McDonald (DEN), 6-1, 6-2
3. Owen Smith (DEN) def. Mirko Radosevic (CSU), 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (5)
4. Benjamin Slade (CSU) def. Colin Bahin (DEN), 6-1, 6-3
5. Danish Siddiquie (DEN) def. Jack Santilli (CSU), 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (3)
6. Andre Mick (CSU) def. Blake Burstein (DEN), 6-1, 6-3

Up Next
The Vikings will continue Horizon League play at Youngstown State next weekend, taking on the Penguins on Saturday, April 15.