April 19, 2009
Contact: Dana Ingraham
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland State men's tennis team ended its regular season Sunday afternoon with a 7-0 shutout of Valparaiso at River Oaks Racquet Club.
The Vikings reached their preseason goal of finishing the regular season undefeated in conference play, earning the No. 1 seed going into the Horizon League tournament in Indianapolis, Ind. on Friday, April 24.
Notable performers for CSU include Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning, who have been stellar all year at their No. 1 doubles post. The junior partners finished the regular season 18-2, and 7-0 against conference opponents. Rob West and Yannick Goossens also capped off a perfect Horizon League record at No. 2 doubles with a win over Valparaiso's Kevin DeHerrera and Adam Whitmer.
Hamning, who has played his last two matches against Valpo and Wright State at No. 2, is the only Viking to enter the Horizon League tournament unbeaten in singles play. He has compiled a familiar 7-0 record playing at No. 2 and 3 combined.
Although CSU unofficially clinched the top seed in the tournament with Saturday's 6-1 win over Wright State, the Vikings left no lingering doubt on Sunday, winning decisively all over the lineup. Rob West completed the shutout with a three-set victory over Whitmer, a competitor who was previously unbeaten in the Horizon League before coming to Cleveland.
"It was great for us as a team to achieve one of the goals we set for ourselves and finish out our schedule undefeated in the conference," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Valpo is one of the classier teams in our conference. It was a really enjoyable match that was good preparation for next weekend's tournament."
The conference tournament brackets will not officially be released until early in the week, but it is likely the Vikings will be slated against Youngstown State in the first round on Friday.
"Each person has little things to work on in practice during the week, and as a team we have to clean up our game just a little bit to really be ready both mentally and physically for tournament play," said Etzkin.
CSU enters the tournament with a 17-5 overall record to complement its 7-0 mark in the Horizon League. Last year the Viking men emerged from the tournament as conference champions for the first time in school history, defeating UIC 4-1 and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, another program first.
Cleveland State 7, Valparaiso 0
April 19, 2009, River Oaks Racquet Club
Doubles
1. Orno/Hamning (CSU) def. Lau/Litscher (VALPO), 8-2
2. West/Goossens (CSU) def. DeHerrera/Whitmer (VALPO), 8-6
3. Fox/Wipprecht (CSU) def. Fortune/Stump (VALPO), 8-2
Singles
1. Phil Orno (CSU) def. Alex Lau (VALPO), 6-2, 6-4
2. Ryan Hamning (CSU) def. Tom Litscher (VALPO), 7-6(4), 6-1
3. Rob West (CSU) def. Adam Whitmer (VALPO), 2-6, 7-6(4), 10-3
4. Yannick Goossens (CSU) def. Kevin DeHerrera (VALPO), 6-2, 6-2
5. Robert Fox (CSU) def. Kyle Stump (VALPO), 6-2, 6-3
6. Steven Wipprecht (CSU) def. Phidias Fortune (VALPO), 6-4, 6-3
Exhibition match
7. Aris Spirtos (CSU) def. Carlton Lyons (VALPO), 8-3
