CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team returned to action at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion Wednesday evening, dropping a hard fought 5-2 match against Western Michigan.
PDF BOX SCORE | Western Michigan 5, Cleveland State 2
Quick Hits
· Nico Mostardi picked up the 84th singles win of his career against WMU, improving to a team-best 8-2 at the top of the lineup this spring.
· Luke Phillips notched his third straight singles win on Wednesday, improving to 15-9 overall this year.
· Friday's match marked the first home match for the Vikings in over three weeks.
The Match
Despite dropping the doubles point, the Cleveland State tandem of Clark Bilinovich and Raul Teichmann picked up a win at the No. 2 spot, earning a 6-4 victory to improve to 2-0 this spring. Wednesday's match marked the first time back on the court for Teichmann since the beginning of the month.
Cleveland State's two singles wins came at the top two spots, as Nico Mostardi and Luke Phillips both posted three-set come-from-behind wins. Mostardi earned a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jannik Opitz, while Phillips notched a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win against Kennosuke Nouchi.
Mostardi has now won eight of his last nine matches, while Phillips has won five of his last six.
From The Sidelines
"I am so proud of how hard this team has been fighting lately, the effort level that they had in today's match was incredible. Despite dropping a lot of first sets, we fought our way back into the match throughout singles, and we gave ourselves chances to win the match until the very end. We are still playing a bit shorthanded, but no matter what, this team keeps fighting and gives their all every time we take the court." – head coach Brian Etzkin
Up Next
The Vikings will hit the road for another match this weekend, traveling to Purdue on Sunday, March 1.
The Results
Doubles (2, 1, 3)
1. Opitz/Kuszynski (WMU) def. Mostardi/Phillips (CSU), 6-4
2. Bilinovich/Teichmann (CSU) def. Randall/Rodrigo (WMU), 6-4
3. Nouchi/Honnappa (WMU) def. Santilli/Mindry (CSU), 6-4
Singles (5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4)
1. #94 Nico Mostardi (CSU) def. Jannik Opitz (WMU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Luke Phillips (CSU) def. Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. Peter Kuszynski (WMU) def. Clark Bilinovich (CSU), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
4. Jack Randall (WMU) def. Kade Mindry (CSU), 6-4, 6-7, 7-6(2)
5. Rodrigo Crespo (WMU) def. Raul Teichmann (CSU), 7-6(3), retired
6. Arjun Honnappa (WMU) def. Jack Santilli (CSU), 6-3, 7-5