YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team opened its Horizon League slate Friday afternoon, dropping a 4-3 match at Youngstown State.

"This was a tough match for us today, we competed well, but Youngstown State was just a little better than us today," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "YSU had a nice crowd for the match, which made it a great collegiate atmosphere. We were only one or two points away from getting the win, and we will definitely use this to get better moving forward and we can't wait for the matchup against the Penguins in late April."

The Vikings were able to get the early doubles point, picking up matching 6-4 wins at the top-two spots. Clark Bilinovich and Raul Teichmann posted the win at No. 1 doubles, while JuandeDios Abboud and Kade Mindry earned the victory at the No. 2 spot.

Although YSU was able to even the match with a win at No. 6 singles, the Vikings picked up two quick points from Mikael Erler and Bilinovich, gaining a 3-1 advantage. Erler posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles, while Bilinovich notched a 6-2, 7-5 win at the No. 5 spot.

With his win, Erler now owns a team-best 10-5 record this spring, while he stands at 14-11 overall this year.

The Penguins were then able to even the match with a pair of wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, leaving the No. 1 singles match between Cleveland State's Maxime Mareschal-Hay and Youngstown State's Laurentiu Mandocescu as the final match on court.

Despite battling back during the second set from 2-5 down to capture a 7-5 victory, Mareschal-Hay came up short in the third and final set, dropping the three-set decision at the top of the lineup.

The Vikings will continue Horizon League play at home tomorrow (Saturday, March 26), hosting Northern Kentucky at 2:00 p.m.