April 2, 2011
Contact: Greg Murphy
WESTLAKE, Ohio - Sanda Bjelan, the lone senior on Cleveland State's women's tennis roster, won both her singles and doubles contests to help the Vikings to a 7-0 sweep over Valparaiso on Senior Day on Saturday night at the Paramount Tennis Club.
The win improves the Vikings to 8-10 overall and keeps CSU perfect in the Horizon League at 3-0.
"We came out focused today and took care of the business at hand," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We hadn't played at home in about a month so it was nice to be able to play a match on our home court in front of our fans tonight. I thought that helped give us some intensity and we really carried it through the entire match."
Bjelan starred for CSU on Senior Day, teaming with Maria Lazaris for an 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles, while also winning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.
"It was great to see Sanda get two wins on Senior Day," Etzkin said. "She has meant so much to this program over the last four years and her leadership and dedication to the program is one of the reasons we have been able to be so successful over the last few years."
In all, the Vikings lost just two games in the three doubles matches and eight games in the six singles contests.
The Vikings conclude their weekend homestand with an 11:00 a.m. contest against UIC on Sunday (April 3). The Flames have won the last 14 Horizon League titles and 126 straight matches against league foes, including a 7-0 win at Youngstown State tonight.
Cleveland State 7, Valparaiso 0
Apr 02, 2011 at Westlake, Ohio (Paramount Tennis Club)
Singles competition
1. BUSH, Alex (CSU) def. Brittany O'Reilly (VALPO) 6-0, 6-0
2. Sherwood, Kara (CSU) def. Jackie O'Reilly (VALPO) 6-0, 6-0
3. Power, Alex (CSU) def. Kristin Zakiewicz (VALPO) 6-2, 6-1
4. Lazaris, Maria (CSU) def. Stephanie York (VALPO) 6-1, 6-2
5. Liu, Mengdi (CSU) def. Katie Bilyeu (VALPO) 6-1, 6-1
6. Bjelan, Sanda (CSU) def. Aubree Zdanovec (VALPO) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. BUSH, Alex/POWER, Alex (CSU) def. Katie Bilyeu/Kristin Zakiewicz (VALPO) 8-1
2. SHERWOOD, Kara/LIU, Mengdi (CSU) def. Stephanie York/Jackie O'Reilly (VALPO) 8-1
3. LAZARIS, Maria/BJELAN, Sanda (CSU) def. Brittany O'Reilly/Aubree Zdanovec (VALPO) 8-0