Contact: Renee Adam
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CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Cleveland State women's tennis team closed out its season-opening six-match roadswing Friday evening, falling at Xavier, 6-1.
"I thought the fight was definitely there today, we were missing two players from our lineup due to injuries, but I thought we had a shot to win going into the match and I would really like to play this team again with a healthy lineup," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "It was really good to see Nicole play well today and bounce back from her loss last week. The top of the lineup was also playing some good tennis for us tonight, and overall this was a clean match that was enjoyable to watch."
Nicole Janek picked up Cleveland State's lone victory of the evening, posting a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles. Mathilde Orange, who was playing at the No. 2 spot, also had a strong performance for the Vikings, pushing her match to three sets. Orange earned a 7-5 win in set one before falling 6-2, 6-4 in the next two sets.
The Musketeers were able to sweep the doubles matches Friday night, and then pick up straight set victories in the rest of the singles matches to earn the 6-1 victory.
"We had some great competition tonight and we are definitely getting better from playing these tough teams. We will now take the week to get healthy and get back on the courts against Ball State and Oakland next Sunday as we finally open our home season," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State will finally have its home opener next weekend, hosting Ball State and Oakland on Sunday, Feb. 24. CSU will first face Ball State at 11:00 a.m. and will then take on Oakland at 3:00 p.m.
Xavier 6, Cleveland State 1
Doubles:
1. Kally Alkire/Katie Pleiman (XU) def. LAZARIS, Maria/JANEK, Nicole (CSU) 8-5
2. Alex Brinker/Allyson Westling (XU) def. FOLKERS, Ellen/ORANGE, Mathilde (CSU) 8-3
3. Andrea Wolf/Daniella Patton (XU) def. BUSH, Alex/LIU, Mengdi (CSU) 8-2
Singles:
1. Katie Pleiman (XU) def. BUSH, Alex (CSU) 6-1, 7-5
2. Alex Brinker (XU) def. Orange, Mathilde (CSU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Daniella Patton (XU) def. Lazaris, Maria (CSU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Kally Alkire (XU) def. Folkers, Ellen (CSU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Janek, Nicole (CSU) def. Andrea Wolf (XU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Lizzie Oosterbaan (XU) def. Liu, Mengdi (CSU) 6-3, 6-1
