Women’s Tennis Stays Perfect In #HLWTEN Play With 4-3 Victory At NKU

Women’s Tennis Stays Perfect In #HLWTEN Play With 4-3 Victory At NKU

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Cleveland State women's tennis team won their eighth straight match Saturday, picking up a 4-3 victory at Northern Kentucky to remain undefeated in Horizon League play. With the win, the Vikings are now 13-7 overall this year, and stand at 6-0 in league play.

PDF BOX SCORE | Cleveland State 4, Northern Kentucky 3

Quick Hits
· Cleveland State picked up the early doubles point for the eighth straight match, earning wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.

· Isabella Spindler is now in sole possession of fifth place on the CSU Doubles Wins List with 64 career victories after picking up a 7-6(2) win with Klara Mrcela at the top of the lineup.

· Kateryna Avram picked up her team-leading 23rd singles win of the season with a straight-set win at No. 6 singles, improving to 6-0 against league opponents.

· With her 7-6(5), 6-3 win at No. 1 singles, Isabella Spindler now has 57 career victories.

· With the 4-3 win against Northern Kentucky, the Vikings are now 6-0 in #HLWTEN play, marking the second time over the last three years that CSU has won six straight matches to begin league play.

· Saturday's victory against the Norse extended Cleveland State's current win streak to eight straight matches, marking a program-best.

The Match
The Vikings, who have now won the doubles point in all six Horizon League matches so far this season, were able to get out to the early 1-0 lead after picking up wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Isabella Spindler and Klara Mrcela battled for a 7-6(2) victory at the top of the lineup, while Siân Payne and Gaby Schoenberg improved to 5-0 against league opponents with a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles.

Cleveland State then gained a 2-0 advantage with a win from Siân Payne at No. 4 singles, as she was able to earn a 6-2, 6-2 victory to improve to 16-12 this season.

Kateryna Avram, who has won nine straight singles matches, gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead with a win at the No. 6 spot, after she picked up a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Cleveland State's clinching point came at the top of the lineup then, as Isabella Spindler notched a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory to become the sixth Viking with double-digit singles wins this spring.

Although NKU was able to battle back to pick up wins on the remaining three courts, the Vikings still came away with the 4-3 match victory to stay undefeated in Horizon League play this year.

From The Sidelines
"This was a good win for us today, we had a great battle and fought hard up and down the lineup. We found a way to get the doubles point, which ended up being huge for us in the end. It was nice to see Siân take care of business on her court, and then of course Kate was just being Kate, giving us the quick 3-0 lead following her win. Isabella played a great match to get the clinching point for us on her court, beating the reigning Horizon League Player of the Year in a hard fought battle. As always in league play, we now have a quick turnaround to Wright State, so we need to get focused on tomorrow's match and bring our A-Game once again." – head coach Frank Polito

Up Next
· The Vikings will close out their brief two-match roadswing tomorrow (Sunday, April 14), traveling to Wright State for a 1:00 p.m. match.

The Results
Doubles (2, 3, 1)
1. Spindler/Mrcela (CSU) def. Sunjic/Culbertson (NKU), 7-6(2)
2. Koo/Rozin (NKU) def. Prosenjak/Avram (CSU), 6-4
3. Payne/Schoenberg (CSU) def. Clark/Dijanezevic (NKU), 6-4

Singles (4, 6, 1, 5, 2, 3)
1. Isabella Spindler (CSU) def. Margita Sunjic (NKU), 7-6(5), 6-3
2. Maria Koo (NKU) def. Klara Mrcela (CSU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
3. Elizabeth Rozin (NKU) def. Lara Prosenjak (CSU), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
4. Siân Payne (CSU) def. Taylor Culbertson (NKU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Katja Dijanezevic (NKU) def. Gaby Schoenberg (CSU), 6-2, 7-6(4)
6. Kateryna Avram (CSU) def. Hannah Watton (NKU), 6-2, 6-2