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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State women's tennis team picked up four doubles wins and nine singles wins on their way to a pair of victories in their 2013 spring home opener Sunday afternoon. The Vikings earned a 4-3 victory over Ball State to start the day, and then earned a 6-1 win over Oakland in the second part of the double header.
Cleveland State 4, Ball State 3
After dropping the doubles point, Cleveland State was able to post four-straight singles victories to earn the 4-3 win over Ball State in the first match of the double header. Mathilde Orange andEllen Folkers recorded their third doubles win out of their last four matches, picking up an 8-7 (5) win at the No. 3 spot as the lone Viking duo to earn a doubles victory.
Folkers was then able to tie the match at 1-1 with her first singles victory of the spring season, marking a 6-1, 6-1 win at the No. 6 position. Alex Power then gave CSU a 2-1 advantage with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles - her first win of the spring - beforeMaria Lazaris and Alex Bush clinched the match with wins in their respective singles matches. Lazaris picked up a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 5 singles, while Bush posted a 6-3, 6-4 straight set victory at No. 2 singles.
"This was a very good win for the team today, I always look forward to playing MAC opponents because it is always a good challenge for us," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We are continuing to make progress in doubles and we are almost ready to break through. After coming back from losing the doubles point, it was huge for us to win five first sets and create some momentum that we lost after doubles. Alex Bush is playing very well right now and that is exciting to see coming up on league play, and Alex Power had a great match for us today coming back from injury and helping us out with a win. Overall this was a solid win for us today and really gave us something to work off of in the going forward."
Doubles:
1. WILD, Courtney/EARNEST, Courtney (BSU) def. BUSH, Alex/SHERWOOD, Kara (CSU) 8-4
2. MOORE, Bethany/SANDERS, Kristel (BSU) def. LAZARIS, Maria/JANEK, Nicole (CSU) 8-2
3. ORANGE, Mathilde/FOLKERS, Ellen (CSU) def. RODRIGUEZ, Paola/PICKREL, Lauren (BSU) 8-7 (5)
Singles:
1. WILD, Courtney (BSU) def. Orange, Mathilde (CSU) 6-7 (5), 6-1, 12-10
2. BUSH, Alex (CSU) def. EARNEST, Courtney (BSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Power, Alex (CSU) def. TERASHI, Ayaka (BSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. MOORE, Bethany (BSU) def. Sherwood, Kara (CSU) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-6
5. Lazaris, Maria (CSU) def. SANDERS, Kristel (BSU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Folkers, Ellen (CSU) def. RODRIGUEZ, Paola (BSU) 6-1, 6-1
Cleveland State 6, Oakland 1
The trio of Alex Bush, Maria Lazaris and Ellen Folkers each picked up their second singles win of the day against Oakland, leading the Vikings to a 6-1 victory over the Golden Grizzlies. Bush's victory came as a 6-0, 6-0 decision at No. 2 singles, while Lazaris earned a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 and Folkers posted a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles.
Also picking up singles wins against Oakland was Mathilde Orange and Nicole Janek - Orange with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles and Janek with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6. Sunday marked the first time that Orange has played at the No. 1 spot, putting forth a strong performance with a 1-1 record on the day.
CSU also had a strong showing in doubles play against the Golden Grizzlies, sweeping the doubles matches for the first time this season. The No. 1 duo of Bush and Kara Sherwood started things off with an 8-1 victory, followed by an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles (Orange/Folkers) and an 8-7 (4) victory from Lazaris and Janek at the No. 2 spot.
"I was really happy with the way we came out and played during doubles. This team recently picked up a quality doubles win and I knew we would have to come out strong in order to pick up the point," Etzkin said. "It was definitely a test of our conditioning and mental toughness for the double header, but we did a good job overall and really fought through some tough spots. It was very important for us to get ahead early on in singles and we were able to do that on almost every court. We wanted to maintain control of the match from the beginning because this Oakland team is much improved from last year. I am very happy to come away with two wins today and hopefully we can carry some of this momentum into next weekend."
Doubles:
1. BUSH, Alex/SHERWOOD, Kara (CSU) def. Tamara Blum/Emily Raidt (OAKLAND) 8-1
2. LAZARIS, Maria/JANEK, Nicole (CSU) def. Karine Celis/Juliana Guevara (OAKLAND) 8-7 (4)
3. ORANGE, Mathilde/FOLKERS, Ellen (CSU) def. Grace Keating/Camille Sabourin (OAKLAND) 8-2
Singles:
1. Orange, Mathilde (CSU) def. Emily Raidt (OAKLAND) 6-2, 6-2
2. BUSH, Alex (CSU) def. Karine Celis (OAKLAND) 6-0, 6-0
3. Tamara Blum (OAKLAND) def. Sherwood, Kara (CSU) 3-6, 6-4, 10-2
4. Lazaris, Maria (CSU) def. Camille Sabourin (OAKLAND) 6-2, 6-3
5. Folkers, Ellen (CSU) def. Juliana Guevara (OAKLAND) 7-6 (5), 6-1
6. Janek, Nicole (CSU) def. Grace Keating (OAKLAND) 6-1, 6-1
With her two singles wins today, Lazaris now has 59 on her career, ranking fifth all-time on the singles wins list at CSU. Janek was also able to improve her career wins total and is now tied for sixth all-time with 57 career singles victories.
Next up for Cleveland State will be a home match against IPFW on Friday (March 1), followed by a contest at Duquesne on Saturday (March 2).
