CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State women's tennis team dropped its first Horizon League contest of the season Saturday afternoon, dropping a hard-fought 4-3 battle against Milwaukee. The Vikings now stand at 11-8 overall this season and 5-1 in league play.
Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Panthers marked Cleveland State's first loss in Horizon League play this season as well as Cleveland State's first loss in the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion.
"This was a great league tennis match, our fans brought some great energy today and although we didn't get the match victory, the crowd still helped on individual courts," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We were poised to take the doubles point, but unfortunately we didn't quite get it today. We had a tremendous battle in singles action today and everyone showed great fight on all six courts. Jana was able to pick up our first league point at No. 6 singles, and Victoria and Aleksandra kept doing their things on their respective courts."
For the first time in league play this season the Vikings got behind early, as they dropped the doubles point, entering singles action trailing 1-0. Although the Vikings dropped the doubles point, Victoria Bensimon and Morgan Nix were still able to pick up a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 spot.
After getting behind 2-0 following a Panther win at No. 1 singles, Bensimon finally put the Vikings on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles. The win marked Bensimon's 50th career singles win, and kept her perfect in Horizon League play this year, standing at 6-0.
Aleksandra Golawska then evened the score at 2-2 with a win at the No. 4 spot, as she posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Golawska now has a team-best 11-7 record this spring, and stands at 5-1 against Horizon League opponents this year.
The Panthers responded with a win at No. 3 singles then, but a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory from Jana Schober at No. 6 singles evened the score once again at 3-3. Schober was down 5-2 in the third set, but battled back to win the third set and the match.
The final point of the contest came down to No. 2 singles, with Cleveland State's Mathilde Orange and Milwaukee's Hayley Marshall. The two split the first two sets with matching 6-3 scores, and then battled until the very end during the third set, as Milwaukee came away with a 7-6 (5) third-set win to clinch the match.
"The match came down to our senior, Mathilde, at No. 2 singles then, and we all trust her very much with what she is doing on the court. Although things didn't go her way, she fought all the way until the end and put forth awesome effort," Etzkin said. "This was a tough loss for us, but we still control our own destiny. We have three league matches left to play during the regular season and we will do everything we can do win the final three."
The Vikings will look to rebound tomorrow (Sunday, April 17), when they host Green Bay at 2:00 p.m.
Milwaukee 4, Cleveland State 3
Doubles:
1. Clark/Straub (UWM) def. Spindler/Golawska (CSU), 7-6 (4)
2. Petrovska/Marshall (UWM) def. Orange/Gbadamosi (CSU), 6-4
3. Nix/Bensimon (CSU) def. Lobanova/Shannon (UWM), 6-3
Singles:
1. Labina Petrovska (UWM) def. Isabella Spindler (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Hayley Marshall (UWM) def. Mathilde Orange (CSU), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. Laurie Clark (UWM) def. Princess Gbadamosi (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
4. Aleksandra Golawska (CSU) def. Alysa Straub (UWM), 6-3, 6-2
5. Victoria Bensimon (CSU) def. Dana Shannon (UWM), 6-3, 6-2
6. Jana Schober (CSU) def. Aerielle Pendleton (UWM), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5