March 22, 2012
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's tennis team will begin Horizon League play this weekend, as the Vikings are set to face the Detroit Titans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 23. Friday's match, which also marks the beginning of league play for Detroit, will be held at Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield, Mich. Cleveland State enters the weekend with a 5-7 record after facing tough competition during their annual Spring Training Trip to Florida.
The Vikings will be trying for their fourth straight undefeated regular season in league play this year, as the Vikings have posted perfect 7-0 records during the 2010-11, 2009-10 and 2008-09 seasons. The Vikings, who have won 25 consecutive Horizon League regular season matches, last fell to a league opponent on April 6, 2008 (Butler). During head coach Brian Etzkin's tenure the Vikings have combined for a 36-22 record in league matches.
Last week the Vikings dropped three hard fought matches, as they fell to No. 59 Stetson (7-0), Florida Atlantic (4-3) and Embry-Riddle (7-0). The Stetson match marked CSU's second ranked opponent of the season (No. 65 Princeton - Feb. 4), while Embry-Riddle also held a No. 2 ranking in the NAIA standings.
Senior Yannick Goossens, who has a 3-6 record this spring, enters the week with 76 career singles wins, ranking fourth all-time at Cleveland State. Goossens needs 12 more wins to move into third place on the all-time singles wins list, which is currently held by Ryan Hamning (2006-10), who posted an 87-45 record during his career.
The Opponent
Detroit enters Friday's contest with a 5-9 record, and has split its last four contests picking up wins over Western Kentucky (5-2) and Dayton (5-2). Cesar Serrano leads the Titans with a 9-4 singles record, while Mike Basha and Pablo Nunez have each picked up five wins this spring.
Under Etzkin the Vikings are 3-0 against Detroit, while Goossens has a perfect 3-0 singles record against the Titans over his career and Matt Kuelker and Matt Ford have each picked up a singles victory against UDM.
