April 12, 2009
Contact: Dana Ingraham
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the first time under the direction of head coach Brian Etzkin, the Cleveland State men's tennis team defeated conference rival Butler, emerging with a 4-3 victory in Sunday's matchup at the Malaga Tennis Center.
CSU was able to close out the doubles point once again, winning at the top two spots to take the early lead. The senior/freshman duo of Rob West and Yannick Goossens got the Vikings back on track after being down 3-0 and 4-1 at second doubles, fighting back to reclaim the match and win 9-8(6).
On the singles front, Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning jumped out to two quick wins at No. 1 and 3, putting the Vikings up 3-0. Butler battled back at the bottom of the lineup, as Chris Herron, Zach Ervin, and Lenz Theodor rolled in straight sets at four, five, and six.
The story of the day for Cleveland State proved to be traditional senior leadership courtesy of West. With the match tied at three, West dropped his first set to Bryce Warren at No. 2. West fell behind early in the second set, quickly finding himself down 3-1. From then on it would be all West. As he said, "it was Viking time".
The senior from Guernsey, United Kingdom, rallied to win his last two sets, 7-5, 6-4, tacking on the deciding point for Cleveland State.
"As a coach you always hope that your seniors can come through for you in the end, and today was Rob's day," Etzkin said. "I am very proud of the way he found a way to win even when he was down; he focused when he needed to and his positive attiude never wavered. It's that kind of effort and will to win that wins championships.
"This program used to gauge our success in terms of how many games we could get in against Butler, so to come away with a 4-3 victory is a very proud moment for us. As a team we are at the top of our game and it couldn't come at a better time with the tournament just weeks away. We are definitely headed in the right direction to achieve our goals."
The win over Butler sets the stage for Cleveland State with only two conference matches remaining in the regular season. The Vikings are 5-0 in the Horizon League thus far, with matches against Wright State and Valparaiso still to come. Two more victories would yield a number one seed for Cleveland State in the conference tournament beginning on April 24.
Cleveland State 4, Butler 3
April 12, Malaga Tennis Center
Doubles
1. Orno/Hamning (CSU) def. Warren/McLoughlin (BUTLER), 8-2
2. West/Goossens (CSU) def. Herron/Ervin (BUTLER), 9-8(6)
3. Theodor/Bayliss (BUTLER) def. Fox/Wipprecht (CSU), 8-5
Exhibition match
4. Dolins/Shafer (BUTLER) def. Spirtos/Veselenak (CSU), 8-4
Singles
1. Phil Orno (CSU) def. Ben Raynauld (BUTLER), 6-1, 6-1
2. Rob West (CSU) def. Bryce Warren (BUTLER), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. Ryan Hamning (CSU) def. Brandon Bayliss (BUTLER), 6-4, 6-2
4. Chris Herron (BUTLER) def. Yannick Goossens (CSU), 6-4, 6-3
5. Zach Ervin (BUTLER) def. Robert Fox (CSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Lenz Theodor (BUTLER) def. Steven Wipprecht (CSU), 6-3, 6-3
