WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After playing into the early morning hours, the Cleveland State women's tennis team dropped a heartbreaking match to Detroit in the Horizon League semifinals, falling 4-3 to the second-seeded Titans.

"This was an awesome college tennis match, with two great teams battling it out until the very end," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I thought we played our best doubles of the season, and I definitely thought that would be the point we needed to turn around the 4-3 loss from earlier this season, which unfortunately wasn't the case."

The Vikings got off to a hot start, picking up the doubles point after battling on all three courts. Cleveland State's No. 2 doubles team of Aleksandra Golawska and Jana Schober quickly picked up a 6-1 victory, while Victoria Bensimon and Ellen Folkers notched a 7-5 comeback victory at the top doubles spot.

Detroit then evened the match with a victory at No. 5 singles, and extended its lead to 2-1 following a win at No. 3 singles.

Cleveland State responded with a victory at No. 4 singles to even the match at 2-2, following a three-set victory from Golawska. Golawska, who improved her overall record to 17-12 this season, posted a 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 win at the No. 4 spot to give the Vikings their second point of the day.

"Aleksandra did a great job of coming back after losing the first set today, and using a strategy that she doesn't usually use to win her match. I was proud to see her pick up the win and get back on the right track after losing a couple matches in a row," Etzkin said.

Cleveland State was then able to gain a 3-2 advantage following a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory from Ellen Folkers at No. 2 singles – the second of four three-set matches of the day. Folkers finished the season with a team-best 22-9 singles record, including a 14-8 mark during the spring season.

"Ellen played some inspired tennis in her last collegiate match today, as she came out winning her doubles match and then played a solid singles match to do everything she could to help the team. She has come a long way in her three seasons at Cleveland State and her leadership on and off the court will definitely be missed," Etzkin said.

The Vikings' lead wouldn't last long though, as Detroit was able to pick up a win at the top singles spot, putting the match at 3-3 and making the No. 6 singles court the deciding point.

Playing at No. 6 singles was Cleveland State's Schober and Detroit's Nynke Van Der Goot – Schober just a freshman and Van Der Goot a sophomore. Schober was able to pick up a quick 6-3 first set, while Van Der Goot evened the match with a 7-5 second set. The two then battled back and forth throughout the third and final set, pushing it to a tiebreaker in which Detroit's Van Der Goot tallied a 7-6 (5) victory.

"Jana played about an hour of tennis after everyone else was already done – playing until 1:30 in the morning. She played one of the best college tennis matches I have ever seen – with both players going at it that hard and for that long. There was a lot of pressure on this match, and neither player double faulted, which was very impressive. We came up about one point short of going to the finals, but definitely left everything on the courts," Etzkin said. "This was a tough season for the team, with a lot of hurdles, but these women are true fighters and really didn't give up or throw in the towel in any match, and I am so very proud of that."

The Titans will now play Youngstown State in the Horizon League Championship tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.

No. 2 Detroit 4, No. 3 Cleveland State 3

Doubles:

1. Bensimon/Folkers (CSU) def. Slizovskaya/Davydova (DET), 7-5
2. Golawska/Schober (CSU) def. Laskutova/Sujashvili (DET), 6-1
3. Kulikovskaya/Nionova (DET) def. Gbadamosi/Orange (CSU), 7-5

Singles:

1. Sasha Nionova (DET) def. Mathilde Orange (CSU), 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4
2. Ellen Folkers (CSU) def. Valeryia Kulikovskay (DET), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
3. Anna Davydova (DET) def. Victoria Bensimon (CSU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Aleksandra Golawska (CSU) def. Irina Slizovskaya (DET), 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Nino Sujashvili (DET) def. Princess Gbadamosi (CSU), 6-4, 6-2
6. Nynke Van Der Goot (DET) def. Jana Schober (CSU), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)

Order of Finish: Doubles (2, 3, 1) – Singles (5, 3, 4, 2, 1, 6)