CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team will officially open the 2021 fall campaign this weekend, traveling to Notre Dame for the Bobby Bayliss Invitational Friday, September 24 through Sunday, September 26.
Bobby Bayliss Invitational Schedule of Play
Friday | 1 Round of Singles, 1 Round of Doubles
Saturday | 2 Rounds of Singles
Sunday | 1 Round of Singles, 1 Round of Doubles
The Field
Cleveland State will be one of eight teams competing this weekend, joining Illinois, Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and the host Irish.
2021 Fall Campaign
This will mark the second of six tournaments for the Vikings this fall, with Cleveland State also competing at the ITA All-American Championship (October 2-3), WMU/Vredevelt Invite (October 9-10), ITA Midwest Regional (October 21-25), and Viking Invitational (October 29-31). Maxime Mareschal-Hay kicked off the 2021 season last weekend, earning an invite to the Milwaukee Tennis Classic.
The Vikings
Cleveland State returns six letterwinners for the 2021-22 season, including the senior duo of Clark Bilinovich and Raul Teichmann. This duo will be joined by junior Kade Mindry and sophomores JuandeDios Abboud, Maxime Mareschal-Hay and Austin Staiger. Last season, this group helped the Vikings claim their third straight Horizon League tournament title, and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year.
New Faces
Along with the six returning letterwinners, three newcomers will join the Vikings for the upcoming 2021-22 season; transfers Hugo Chatras (R-Senior) and Mikael Erler (Sophomore) and true freshman Devin Boyer.
Bilinovich Closing In On 50 Singles Wins
Entering the 2021 fall campaign senior Clark Bilinovich is closing in on becoming the 17th Viking all-time to reach the 50-win mark, as he currently has 48 career singles victories. As a freshman, Bilinovich recorded 29 singles wins, tying the program record for single-season wins, and followed that up with 19 wins over the next two shortened campaigns.
Head Coach Brian Etzkin
The Vikings will be under the direction of 20-year head coach Brian Etzkin. As the all-time winningest coach in program history, Etzkin enters the 2021-22 campaign with 278 career wins. Etzkin is one of the longest tenured coaches in the Horizon League, and is the only men's coach to record 275+ wins at their current school.
