March 8, 2009
Contact: Dana Ingraham
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland State women's tennis returned to its winning ways Sunday afternoon with two key victories over Oakland and Dayton at the River Oaks Racquet Club.
The Vikings began the morning by taking two out of three doubles matches from Oakland to win the point, as they cruised to a 6-1 decision.
In singles, CSU won in straight sets at every spot in the lineup except for the fifth, where Myra Pepino dropped a tough three set tiebreaker.
"Oakland deserves a lot of credit for its doubles performance," said CSU head coach Brian Etzkin. "We did not play our best tennis in the morning, but we were lucky to hold on and use that as motivation for the afternoon session."
Cleveland State came out stronger in the second installment of the day, handing Dayton a 7-0 sweep. Pepino and Sanda Bjelan moved to third to second doubles to beat Loni Dickerhoof and Laina Grote, 8-4. Catrine Bjerrehus also moved from second to first singles to defeat Dickerhoof in three sets. Bjerrehus finished 3-0 at both doubles and singles on the weekend.
Jackie Tabb was also 3-0 at No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Dayton's Kelly O'Connell.
"Jackie really stood out for us all weekend," said Etzkin. "She really wants to win every single point she plays, and she never takes a point off. She is playing hard and really bringing the energy to our team right now.
"I am happy we were able to collectively regroup and come out a lot more focused against Dayton. Our goal for Sunday's singles was to play more disciplined tennis, and as a team we got back to the basics and it paid off."
The two wins bring Cleveland State's overall record to 7-6. The Vikings have a week off before traveling to Orlando, Florida for their spring trip. Play begins Sunday, March 15, with a match against North Dakota.
Cleveland State 6, Oakland 1
March 8, 2009 at River Oaks Racquet Club
Doubles
1. Bjerrehus/Gibbons (CSU) def. Maxfield/Gogas (OU), 8-6
2. Grimmer/Karoub (OU) def. Holzinger/Tabb (CSU), 8-3
3. Pepino/Bjelan (CSU) def. Scheer/Young (OU), 8-3
Singles
1. Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU) def. Lindsay Grimmer (OU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Charlotte Gibbons (CSU) def. Amanda Scheer (OU), 6-1, 6-0
3. Melissa Holzinger (CSU) def. Caitlin Young (OU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Jackie Tabb (CSU) def. Karen Karoub (OU), 6-2, 6-0
5. Michelle Maxfield (OU) def. Myra Pepino (CSU), 6-4, 3-6, 13-11
6. Sanda Bjelan (CSU) def. Jackie Dinicu (OU), 6-2, 6-0
Exhibition match
Molly Drake (CSU) def. Gabrielle Gogas (OU), 8-4
Cleveland State 7, Dayton 0
March 8, 2009, at River Oaks Racquet Club
Doubles
1. Bjerrehus/Gibbons (CSU) def. Dzubay/O'Connell (UD), 8-2
2. Pepino/Bjelan (CSU) def. Dickerhoof/Grote (UD), 8-4
3. Holzinger/Tabb (CSU) def. Mathews/Gray (UD), 8-1
Singles
1. Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU) def. Loni Dickerhoof (UD), 3-6, 6-2, 10-5
2. Charlotte Gibbons (CSU) def. Laina Grote (UD), 6-4, 6-1
3. Melissa Holzinger (CSU) def. Nikki Dzubay (UD), 6-0, 6-2
4. Jackie Tabb (CSU) def. Kelly O'Connell (UD), 6-1, 6-0
5. Myra Pepino (CSU) def. Molly Mathews (UD), 6-0, 6-1
6. Sanda Bjelan (CSU) def. Chelsea Gray (UD), 6-0, 6-2
Exhibition match
Molly Drake (CSU) def. Sara Smith (UD), 8-3
