March 5, 2008
Contact: Jessica Gerich
Complete Release in PDF Format 
CLEVELAND STATE MEN'S TENNIS
Florida Spring Training Trip
March 9 vs. Southern Illinois Edwardsville
March 10 vs. Connecticut
March 11 at Stetson
CLEVELAND STATE WOMEN'S TENNIS
Florida Spring Training Trip
March 9 vs. Southern Illinois Edwardsville
March 10 vs. Connecticut
March 12 vs. Radford
FIRST SERVE: The men's and women's teams travel to Orlando, Florida for their spring training trip from Sunday, March 9 until Wednesday, March 12. Both teams face Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Sunday, March 9 and Connecticut on Monday, March 10. The men's team will play at Stetson on Tuesday, March 11 at 2:30 p.m., while the women face Radford on Wednesday, March 12.
PREVIEWING THE VIKING MEN: The Viking men (8-3) won their only match of the week, defeating Chicago State, 5-2, on Saturday evening. The men have won seven of their last eight matches. The squad is led by sophomores Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning. A first team All-Horizon League selection last season, Orno has a 14-9 record, predominately at No. 1 singles, while Hamning, an all-league second team selection has a 10-9 record at No. 2 singles. Freshman Chris Klepatz is 10-8 at No. 3 singles while junior Rob West has gone 7-14 at No. 4 singles. Freshman Robert Fox and senior Brad Groleski are 13-7 and 7-6, respectively, to wrap up the bottom of the Viking lineup.
PREVIEWING THE VIKING WOMEN: The women went 2-1 last week, falling to No. 45 Ohio State on Wednesday before defeating Oakland and Chicago State on Saturday. Freshmen Melissa Holzinger (10-12) and Jackie Tabb (6-13) form the top of the Viking lineup. Senior Jenn Myers is 11-9 at No. 3 singles, while freshman Sanda Bjelan is 15-8 at No. 4 singles. Sophomores Denisa Muntean and Charlotte Gibbons hold down the bottom part of the lineup, with 14-8 and 9-4 records at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively.
THE HEAD COACH
Brian Etzkin (Southern Illinois, `98)
Men's Record: 71-66
Women's Record: 68-79
Brian Etzkin, CSU's all-time coaching wins leader, has led both the men's and women's teams to five straight seasons with 10 wins or more. Nine Vikings have garnered All-Horizon League recognition under Etzkin's tutelage and two players have earned Horizon League Newcomer of the Year honors. Etzkin guided both the men's and women's teams to new heights last season, with the women having their best tournament finish in program history, (third) while the men tied their best tournament finish in school history (third).
ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "The men head to Florida at the end of the week to begin preparing for the remainder of the season. They will play 3 matches over the course of the week with the highlight being a matchup vs. #75 Stetson University. This will be the third nationally ranked team the Men have faced. In addition, the Men will play Southern Illinois-Edwardsville along with UCONN. These matches will be great preparation for our outdoor portion of the season which includes our Horizon League Championships."
ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: "The Women will face three teams while we are on our Spring Training Trip in Orlando, Florida. These teams are Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Radford, and UCONN. All three of these teams will be tough opponents but great outdoor matches to play as we prepare for the remainder of our season that will be outside. We need to come back ready for our Horizon League schedule. These are our last three matches remaining to prepare for our eight league matches."
BACK FROM WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Sophomores Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning, all-league selections following their freshman campaigns, have picked up where they left off last season. Orno boasts a 14-9 record, predominately at No. 1 singles, while Hamning is 10-9, mainly at No. 2 singles. Hamning and Orno were the only two players representing CSU at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships, which were held in Tulsa, Okla., in the fall. Both were selected to play singles and doubles at the ITA Regional Tournament.
THEY HAVE BEEN ROBBED: Junior Rob West and Rob Fox form the men's No. 2 doubles team, going 8-6 this season, including 4-0 at No. 1 doubles. The duo defeated Michigan State's No. 2 team 8-5, which was CSU's only victory against the Big Ten team.
TABB TABBED FOR LEAGUE HONORS: Freshman Jackie Tabb received Horizon League Tennis Athlete of the Week honors on Jan. 23, after defeating IPFW's Stacy Lish, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and going 2-0 at No. 1 doubles with sophomore Charlotte Gibbons. The duo earned wins over IPFW and Michigan State during the spring season opening weekend.
FRESHMEN IMPORTS: Freshmen Sanda Bjelan and Robert Fox have compiled the best record among CSU newcomers. Bjelan, a Bad Ragaz, Switzerland product has a 15-7 record while Fox, a Rotterdam, Netherlands native, has a 13-7 mark. Bjelan owns an 10-7 doubles record while Fox has tallied a 8-8 doubles record, predominately at No. 2 doubles.
HAMNING IT UP: Sophomore Ryan Hamning was named the Horizon League Tennis Athlete of the Week on Jan. 31, after defeating Chris Herrlinger of Xavier, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Hamning, who is now 10-9 on the season at No. 1 singles, teamed with classmate Phil Orno to win their No. 1 doubles match against Xavier.
CLOSE CALLS: Five of the 11 matches played this spring by the men's team have been decided by a 4-3 score and all but one have been Viking victories. The first 4-3 decision was clinched by senior Brad Groleski in dramatic fashion, as he won his match 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles to decide the match against Xavier. Robert Fox clinched the following two matches decided by a 4-3 score.
HOLZINGER AND ORNO RECEIVE LEAGUE HONORS: Freshman Melissa Holzinger and sophomore Phil Orno swept the Horizon League Tennis Athlete of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 4. Holzinger and Orno won both of their No. 1 singles matches against St. Bonaventure and Niagara. It marked the third consecutive week that at least one member of the CSU tennis team garnered player of the week honors.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Senior Morgan Ungerott became CSU's winningest doubles player on Sunday, Feb. 24, with her 77th career win. It broke former doubles partner Sarah Galon's record of 76 doubles wins. Ungerott paired with freshman Melissa Holzinger to defeat Kali Delorie and Libby Shaw of Robert Morris, 8-0, on Sunday.
THE CLINCHER: Freshman Robert Fox has clinched two matches for the Vikings. Fox first clinched the match against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Feb. 2, winning 7-6 (10), 6-3 at No. 5 singles. He closed out the match against Niagara on Sunday, Feb. 3, winning 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles to wrap up the victory.
UP NEXT: The women's team begins league play at Detroit on Friday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m. The men's team is idle until Saturday, March 29, when they travel to Dayton.
