April 17, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
DETROIT, Mich. - The Cleveland State women's tennis team capped the best Horizon League season in school history, clinching second place with a 4-3 win at Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
CSU concludes the regular season with a 15-11 overall mark and a 7-1 Horizon League record. The Vikings will enter next weekend's Horizon League Championship as the No. 2 seed and will play their first match on Saturday (April 24) in the semifinals against a winner of Friday's first round contest.
Detroit slipped to 7-11 overall and 5-2 in league play and will host Youngstown State on Sunday. The winner of that match will receive the No. 3 seed in the league tournament, setting up a possible semifinal contest with CSU next weekend.
"This is one of the best feelings I have had as a coach," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We have been working toward the goal of finishing in the top-three of the league and to finish second is a testament to how hard each and every player of the roster has worked this season.
"It's exciting to share this as a program and I hope that this young core of players can continue to work together and grow together in the coming seasons. We are excited to be able to get a bye into the semifinals of the league tournament, but we know that we will have a tough match and will have to maintain our intensity and focus."
CSU won two of the three doubles matches to win the doubles point, which would prove to be the difference as the teams split the three singles contests.
The No. 3 doubles team of Sanda Bjelan and Mengdi Liu earned a quick 8-3 victory and was the first doubles match to finish.
"Getting that first win was big because it took some pressure off our other two doubles teams knowing that we only had to win one of the final two," Etzkin said.
The No. 2 squad of Nicole Janek and Maria Lazaris appeared to be in control of their match, leading 7-4, while the No. 1 team of Catrine Bjerrehus and Charlotte Gibbons were trailing 7-4.
However, Janek and Lazaris did not win another game, falling 9-7, but Gibbons and Bjerrehus battled all the way back to earn a 9-7 win, giving CSU the point.
"Catrine and Charlotte just hung around and kept battling back," Etzkin said. "They never got down and getting that win proved to be the difference in the long run."
CSU took a 2-0 lead when Lazaris won at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-4, for her team-leading 21st victory of the season.
"Maria has been on fire of late and been doing nothing but winning matches," Etzkin said.
UDM came back to tie the match at 2-2 with wins at No. 1 and No. 5 singles, making the match a best of three.
Nicole Janek picked up a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles to put the Vikings back on top, 3-2, and less than 30 seconds later, freshman Mengdi Liu closed out the match with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win at the No. 6 slot.
"Mengdi has worked so hard to get on the court this season that it was only fitting it was her match that won it for us," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State 4, Detroit 3
Apr 17, 2010 at Detroit, Mich. (Titan Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. SALAS-ESPINOSA, Caro (UDM) def. Bjerrehus, Catrine (CSU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Lazaris, Maria (CSU) def. CORNWELL, Amanda (UDM) 6-2, 6-4
3. Sjoberg-Sundstrom, S (UDM) def. Gibbons, Charlotte (CSU) 5-7, 6-4, 10-6
4. Janek, Nicole (CSU) def. FLANKOVA, Svetlana (UDM) 6-4, 6-3
5. WELDON, Erin (UDM) def. Bjelan, Sanda (CSU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Liu, Mengdi (CSU) def. CAPUANO, Melanie (UDM) 6-3, 7-6
Exhibition Match
Drake, Molly (CSU) def. Baca, Victoria (UDM), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. BJERREHUS, Catrine/GIBBONS, Charlotte (CSU) def. SALAS-ESPINOSA, Caro/CORNWELL, Amanda (UDM) 9-7
2. Sjoberg-Sundstrom, S/FLANKOVA, Svetlana (UDM) def. JANEK, Nicole/LAZARIS, Maria (CSU) 9-7
3. BJELAN, Sanda/LIU, Mengdi (CSU) def. CAPUANO, Melanie/WELDON, Erin (UDM) 8-3
