March 30, 2012
Contact: Renee Adam
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's tennis team continued their winning ways Friday afternoon, as they claimed a 4-3 victory over Western Michigan. Friday's win marked the first time in program history that the Vikings have defeated the Broncos, while it also marked the first time that a Horizon League school posted a win against WMU this year.
CSU is now 7-8 on the season heading into Saturday's (March 31) league matchup with Youngstown State, while the Broncos fall to 11-8.
"This was a great win for the program today, it was the first time that we have defeated Western Michigan which really proves how deep this year's team is," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Last year we fell to WMU 7-0, and this year we were able to turn that around and come away with the win. Today's match really showed the depth of our team and how strong we are. Leading up to this point we have played some tough matches so it has been a struggle, but I think we are really coming around to who we are as a team."
For the second match in a row the Vikings were able to get out to a 1-0 lead after picking up the doubles point, with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Nolan Marks and Ali Shabib teamed up for a 9-7 win at No. 1 doubles, while Matt Kuelker and Jorg Van Der Vloet picked up an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles.
The Broncos were able to even the match at 1-1 with a victory at No. 3 singles, before van der Vloet was able to record a straight set (6-2, 7-5) win at No. 5 singles to give CSU a 2-1 advantage.
WMU posted a win at No. 4 singles to once again knot the score, but the Vikings answered with a pair of victories at the No. 2 and No. 6 spots to clinch the win. Kuelker posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles, while Matt Ford earned his 10th singles win of the spring with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 come-from-behind win at the No. 6 spot.
"We were able to come off the Detroit win last weekend and work hard throughout the week to keep the momentum going into today's match," Etzkin said. "Matt Kuelker was very strong for us at No. 2 singles, while Jorg bounced back from a disappointing loss last week to get back in the win column. Ford once again was able to play some strong tennis and clinch the match for us at No. 6 singles. Different people stepped up in today's win, which is promising for the future. We know what we are capable of and we just need to continue to improve as the weeks go on."
Cleveland State will continue its Horizon League schedule tomorrow (Saturday, March 31) with a 4:00 p.m. contest against Youngstown State at Paramount Tennis Club.
Cleveland State 4, Western Michigan 3
Doubles:
1. Shabib/Marks (CSU) def. VanderPloeg/Indre (WMU), 9-7
2. Olivarez/Wong (WMU) def. Goossens/Ford (CSU), 8-2
3. Kuelker/van der Vloet (CSU) def. Montasser/Shideler (WMU), 8-5
Singles:
1. Nadin Indre (WMU) def. Goossens, Yannick (CSU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Kuelker, Matt (CSU) def. Pablo Olivarez (WMU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Zeyad Montasser (WMU) def. Shabib, Ali (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Marks, Nolan (CSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Van Der Vloet, Jorg (CSU) def. Simon Blomberg (WMU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Ford, Matt (CSU) def. Aaron Wong (WMU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
