Contact: Renee Adam
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MUNCIE, Ind. - The Cleveland State women's tennis team opened the 2012 fall season Friday, participating in the Ball State University Invitational. The Vikings were led by the trio of Maria Lazaris, Kara Sherwood and Ellen Folkers on day one, as they each notched opening round singles wins.
"I thought we played okay today, we didn't do anything spectacular, but we also didn't do anything awful which is normal for the first tournament of the season," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We are going to save any judgment on how we think the tournament went until tomorrow because we have high expectations on how we are going to finish play here. We had people play well in spots, but we need to pick it up a notch for tomorrow. Ellen (Folkers) did very well during her first collegiate tournament today, and she has gotten better every day that she has been on campus and it's good to see her continue that in a competitive setting."
The trio of Lazaris, Sherwood and Folkers each picked up victories in the first round of singles play today, with Lazaris still alive in the main draw of Flight 2 singles. Lazaris posted a 6-1, 6-0 win over Ruta Grinvalde of Chicago State, while Sherwood earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kristin Zakiewicz of Valparaiso. Folkers earned her first collegiate win in a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Valparaiso's Brittany O'Reilly.
Folkers and Mengdi Liu picked up the lone doubles victory for CSU, claiming an 8-0 win over Valparaiso in the consolation bracket of Flight 2 doubles.
The Vikings will close out the Ball State University Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 15), with action beginning at 9:00 a.m.
