COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team continued play at the ITA Midwest Regional Friday, with the doubles team of Nico Mostardi and Luke Phillips earning a spot in the quarterfinals of the Main Doubles Draw.
QUALIFYING SINGLES DRAW | MAIN SINGLES DRAW | MAIN DOUBLES DRAW
"Nico and Luke did a great job of just playing Cleveland State tennis today, and not worrying about who was on the other side of the court. They did a good job of playing as a team, and had great chemistry on the court," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "It's hard to come off of a bye, when your opponent has already been playing, but they did a good job of staying focused during the second round and then they kicked it into another gear to pick up their third round win."
Mostardi and Phillips entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Main Doubles Draw, earning a bye into the second round.
The duo was able to pick up an 8-7(4) tiebreak victory against a Michigan duo in the second round, and then earned an 8-5 win against a seeded opponent in a Notre Dame tandem during the third round.
Clark Bilinovich and Matthew Terry also represented the Vikings in the doubles bracket, as they picked up an 8-7(8) victory over Western Michigan in the first round and then dropped an 8-5 match to the second-seeded Michigan duo in the second round.
"Despite starting out slow, Clark and Matt were able to fight their way back into their first round match and pick up a quality win against a tough Western Michigan team. Unfortunately, they weren't able to carry that momentum into the second round, but overall I thought they had a good doubles performance today and played well together," Etzkin said.
In singles action, Bilinovich came up just short of advancing to the Main Singles Draw, as he dropped a hard fought three-set match against UIC's Kasper Parlklo in the third round of the Qualifying Draw. Bilinovich finished the weekend with a 2-1 singles record after picking up a pair of wins to begin play in the qualifying bracket yesterday.
"Clark had a great singles tournament this week, today's match could have gone either way so it was a tough way to end the week. Despite not playing at 100-percent, he had a great week on the courts and I'm looking forward to what he can do the remainder of the fall season," Etzkin said.
Play at the ITA Midwest Regional will continue tomorrow (Saturday, October 19) with two rounds of Main Draw Singles beginning at 8:00 a.m. for Nico Mostardi, Luke Phillips and Matthew Terry, and one round of Qualifying Consolation Singles for Jack Santilli at 10:00 am, while the quarterfinals of the Main Doubles Draw will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Qualifying Singles Draw Third Round
Kasper Parlklo (UIC) def. Clark Bilinovich (CSU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Main Doubles Draw First Round
Terry/Bilinovich (CSU) def. Faveri/Randall (WMU), 8-7 (8)
Main Doubles Draw Second Round
Mostardi/Phillips (CSU) def. Beaty/Oosterbaan (MICH), 8-7 (4)
50 Fenty/Siimar (MICH) def. Terry/Bilinovich (CSU), 8-5
Main Doubles Draw Third Round
Mostardi/Phillips (CSU) def. Fu/Nefve (ND), 8-5