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Tennis Travels To Wright State, Butler

Tennis Travels To Wright State, Butler
Posted: Apr 01, 2008

April 1, 2008

Contact: Jessica Gerich

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CLEVELAND STATE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS
at Wright State
Location: Fairborn, Ohio
Date: Saturday, April 5
Time: 10:00 a.m. (Men), 2:00 p.m. (Women)

CLEVELAND STATE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS
at Butler
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
Date: Sunday, April 6
Time: 10:00 a.m. (Men), 2:00 p.m. (Women)

FIRST SERVE: The Cleveland State men's tennis team (11-4) begins its Horizon League schedule when the Vikings travel to Wright State on Saturday, April 5 at 10:00 a.m. The team heads to Indianapolis, Ind. the following day for a match against Butler. The match against the Bulldogs is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. The women's team (12-5) will travel with the men's team and face both Wright State and Butler. Both women's matches will begin at 2:00 p.m.

PREVIEWING THE VIKING MEN: CSU completed its non-conference schedule on Saturday, March 29, defeating Dayton, 7-0. The Vikings won every match in competition. The men 's squad is led by sophomores Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning. A first team All-Horizon League selection last season, Orno has a 17-9 record, predominately at No. 1 singles, while Hamning, an all-league second team selection has an 12-11 record at No. 2 singles. Freshman Chris Klepatz is 13-9 at No. 3 singles while junior Rob West has gone 9-16 at No. 4 singles. Freshman Robert Fox and senior Brad Groleski are 17-7 and 10-7, respectively, to wrap up the bottom of the Viking lineup. Orno has won 12 consecutive singles matches, while Fox has won eight straight.

PREVIEWING THE VIKING WOMEN: The Vikings won their only match of the weekend, defeating Youngstown State, 5-2. The win improved CSU to 1-1 against Horizon League opponents. Freshmen Melissa Holzinger (12-15) and Jackie Tabb (7-16) form the top of the Viking lineup. Senior Jenn Myers is 13-12 at No. 3 singles, while freshman Sanda Bjelan is 18-9 at No. 4 singles. Sophomores Charlotte Gibbons and Denisa Muntean hold down the bottom part of the lineup, with 13-5 and 18-9 records at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively.

THE HEAD COACH
Brian Etzkin (Southern Illinois, `98)
Men's Record: 74-67
Women's Record: 71-81
Brian Etzkin, CSU's all-time coaching wins leader, has led both the men's and women's teams to five straight seasons with 10 wins or more. Nine Vikings have garnered All-Horizon League recognition under Etzkin's tutelage and two players have earned Horizon League Newcomer of the Year honors. Etzkin guided both the men's and women's teams to new heights last season, with the women having their best tournament finish in program history, (third) while the men tied their best tournament finish in school history (third).

ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "We had a solid win against Dayton last weekend and it puts us in a good position for Horizon League play. We have a full lineup and we like our chances against Wright State and Butler this weekend."

ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: ""Last week we had a big conference win to avenge our loss at Detroit last week. This puts us in a good position going into Wright State and Butler."

BACK FROM WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Sophomores Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning, all-league selections following their freshman campaigns, have picked up where they left off last season. Orno boasts a 17-9 record, predominately at No. 1 singles, while Hamning is 12-11, mainly at No. 2 singles. Hamning and Orno were the only two players representing CSU at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships, which were held in Tulsa, Okla., in the fall. Both were selected to play singles and doubles at the ITA Regional Tournament.

THEY HAVE BEEN ROBBED: Junior Rob West and Rob Fox form the men's No. 2 doubles team, going 11-7 this season, including 5-0 at No. 1 doubles. The duo defeated Michigan State's No. 2 team 8-5, which was CSU's only victory against the Big Ten team.

TABB TABBED FOR LEAGUE HONORS: Freshman Jackie Tabb received Horizon League Tennis Athlete of the Week honors on Jan. 23, after defeating IPFW's Stacy Lish, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and going 2-0 at No. 1 doubles with sophomore Charlotte Gibbons. The duo earned wins over IPFW and Michigan State during the spring season opening weekend.

FRESHMEN IMPORTS: Freshmen Sanda Bjelan and Robert Fox have compiled the best record among CSU newcomers. Bjelan, a Bad Ragaz, Switzerland product has a 18-9 record while Fox, a Rotterdam, Netherlands native, has a 17-7 mark. Bjelan owns an 11-8 doubles record while Fox has tallied a 11-9 doubles record, predominately at No. 2 doubles.

HAMNING IT UP: Sophomore Ryan Hamning was named the Horizon League Tennis Athlete of the Week on Jan. 31, after defeating Chris Herrlinger of Xavier, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Hamning, who is now 10-9 on the season at No. 1 singles, teamed with classmate Phil Orno to win their No. 1 doubles match against Xavier.

HOLZINGER AND ORNO RECEIVE LEAGUE HONORS: Freshman Melissa Holzinger and sophomore Phil Orno swept the Horizon League Tennis Athlete of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 4. Holzinger and Orno won both of their No. 1 singles matches against St. Bonaventure and Niagara. It marked the third consecutive week that at least one member of the CSU tennis team garnered player of the week honors.

STREAKY: Sophomore Phil Orno currently holds the longest win streak for the Vikings, with 12 consecutive singles match victories. Freshman Robert Fox follows with eight straight, starting on February 9. Freshman Sanda Bjelan leads the women's team with a seven match streak, from January 27 to February 24. Freshman Melissa Holzinger and sophomore Denisa Muntean each had six consecutive singles victories from February 2 to February 24. All three had their streaks snapped at No. 45 Ohio State.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Senior Morgan Ungerott became CSU's winningest doubles player on Sunday, Feb. 24, with her 77th career win. It broke former doubles partner Sarah Galon's record of 76 doubles wins. Ungerott paired with freshman Melissa Holzinger to defeat Kali Delorie and Libby Shaw of Robert Morris, 8-0, on Sunday.

THE CLINCHER: Freshman Robert Fox has clinched two matches for the Vikings. Fox first clinched the match against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Feb. 2, winning 7-6 (10), 6-3 at No. 5 singles. He closed out the match against Niagara on Sunday, Feb. 3, winning 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles to wrap up the victory.

UP NEXT: The women's team hosts Green Bay on Friday, April 11 at 1:00 p.m. and Milwaukee on Saturday, April 12 at 4:00 p.m. The men host Green Bay on Saturday, April 11 at 12:00 p.m. and Youngstown State on Sunday, April 13 at 1:00 p.m.