March 21, 2006
SETTING THE SCENE: The women's tennis team hits the road this week, traveling to Duqeusne on Mar. 23 and Detroit on Mar. 25. The men's team heads to Michigan State on Mar. 25 before returning home to host Toledo on Mar. 26.
LAST TIME OUT: The Cleveland State men's tennis team won three of its four matches over spring break, improving to 7-8 on the season. Playing in Orlando, Fla. the Vikings downed Fairfield (Mar. 13) and Fairliegh Dickinson, (Mar. 15) 6-1. CSU suffered its only loss of the week to three-time defending America East Champion Binghamton University (Mar. 14) 6-1. The Vikings finished the week with a 7-0 shut out of UW-LaCrosse.
The women's team went 4-0 in Florida, boosting their record to 12-7. In three days of competition the Vikings swept Fairleigh Dickinson (Mar. 12), Fairfield University (Mar. 13) and Wagner College (Mar. 14), 7-0. CSU also downed Hamilton 6-1 on Mar. 13. Jenn Myers improved to 18-7 on the season by extending her winningstreak to seven matches.
HEAD COACH Brian Etzkin: Brian Etzkin is now in his fourth year with both the men's and women's tennis programs. Etzkin, the 2003-04 Horizon League Women's Coach of the Year, has accumulated the most career wins for a coach in CSU history with 28. Last season, he coached Sarah Galon to Horizon League Player of the Year honors, the first time a Viking tennis player has won the award. On the men's side he has coached the 2003 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year (Jay Tee) and had players on both the first and second All-Horizon League teams.
ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: "Duquesne is last real test we have before conference play. I'm really looking at the match as way to work out the kinks before we play Detroit. If we play well we'll come away with a win. Detorit is a team we've beaten 4-3 the last four years, but we and they have improved. It's going to be a close match...a competitive match. They have a new freshmen playing at No.1 singles who is doing really well. Each year someone different on our team has stepped up and I expect this year will be the same."
ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "This is going to be the toughest weekend we have the entire season with Michigan State and Toledo back-to-back. Michigan has been struggling a bit lately but they're a very good team and they'll be coming out hungry for a win. If we build on what we learned in our match against Iowa earlier in the season we could have some good results. Last year Toledo and ourselves were both a bit injured and we came up just short of a win. This year, both teams are healthy and if we play our best we'll have a chance to win. We don't have any room for errors, however."
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: As the newest addition to the Vikings lineup, junior transfer Olivier Dhaine is showing signs of great promise for the future. Dhaine, a native of France, is 9-2 for the spring after winning three matches in Orlando, Fla. No. 1 Dhaine downed Jonathan Fernando of Fairfield 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 on Mar. 13. Two days later, Fairleigh Dickinson's Daniel Wynne fell to Dhaine 6-2, 5-7, 10-3 and Dale Wroblewski of UW-LaCrosse was downed 6-1, 6-2. Dhaine was named the Horizon League Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of Mar. 20.
SINGLED OUT: In only her second year at Cleveland State sophomore Jenn Myers is playing like a seasoned veteran. 18-7 on the season, Myers is on a seven-match winning streak for the Vikings. She's won all but two of these matches in two sets. Myers went 4-0 over spring break, shutting out Fairleigh Dickinson 6-0, 6-0 on Mar. 12. The following day she took down Fairfield University 6-0, 6-1, and Hamilton 6-1, 6-4. For her finale, Myers downed Wagner 6-1, 6-0 on Mar. 14. She was named the Horizon League Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of Mar. 20.
BREAKING IT IN: Sophomore Brad Groleski is finally back in action and starting to find his rhythm with the Vikings after a year-long haitus due to a broken wrist. On a two-match winning steak, Groleski downed Esteban Blanco of Fairleigh Dickinson 6-2, 6-0 on Mar. 14. One day later he clinched a 6-2, 6-2 win over Deke Bradley of UW-LaCrosse. He is 5-6 for the spring.
DOUBLE DUTY: The women's No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott is on fire this season, posting a 16-5 record on the year. On a eight-match winning steak, the duo went four-for-four during spring training (Mar. 12-14). In addition to shutting out Fairleigh Dickinson and Wager, 8-0, the pair downed Fairfield, 8-2. Hamilton fell to the Vikings, 9-7, in the closest match of the week.
Jenn Myers and Christine Vogelgesang also found their stride in Orlando, Fla. at No. 3 doubles. On Mar. 12, the duo pummeled Fairleigh Dickinson, 8-0. One day later they easily downed Fairfield and Hamilton, 8-1. Myers and Vogelgesang closed out the three-day stretch with an 8-3 victory over Wagner on Mar. 14.
WESTWARD BOUND: Rob West snapped his three-match losing streak on Mar. 15 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Justin Seow of Fairleigh Dickinson at No. 3 singles. Hours later he downed UW-LaCrosse's Grant Bernard, 6-3, 6-2.
FOURGING AHEAD: Five members of the women's tennis team went 4-0 from Mar. 12-Mar. 14 while on spring break in Orlando, Fla. Kristin Chamberlain, Sarah Galon, Jenn Myers, Morgan Ungerott and Christine Vogelgesang all defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, Fairfield, Hamilton and Wagner. Four of the five Vikings recorded at least one 6-0, 6-0 shutout.
BEYOND THE HORIZON: Senior Jay Tee snapped an eight-match losing streak on Mar. 14, defeating Michael Palumbo of Fairfield, 4-6. 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4). When not on the tennis court, Tee serves as president of one of the top Student-Athlete Advisory Councils in the Horizon League. A regular spectator and volunteer at CSU athletic events, Tee lead the group in its efforts to adopt students at Marion-Sterling Elementary School for the "Big Vikes-Little Vikes" program. During the winter SAAC coordinated a campus-wide effort to supply relief to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
FLEET OF FIRSTS: The women's tennis team capped off its fall season at the ITA Regional (Oct. 21-24) with a number of firsts for Cleveland State. A record six Viking women competed in singles and doubles at the 2005 regional in East Lansing, Mich. Sarah Galon added to her already impressive resume by becoming the first women's tennis player in Cleveland State history to compete in the singles main draw. Galon also teamed up with Morgan Ungerott to earn the Vikings' first ever regional win in the consolation round of the doubles main draw.
UP NEXT: The men and women travel to Wright State and Butler (Apr. 1-2).