April 5, 2006
SETTING THE SCENE: The men's and women's tennis teams continue conference play this weekend with the men hosting Robert Morris (Apr. 8) and Youngstown (Apr. 9). The women will host UW-Green Bay (Apr. 8) and UW-Milwaukee (Apr. 9).
LAST TIME OUT: The men's team split this past weekend, downing Wright State 5-2 (Apr. 1) before being blanked by Butler, 7-0 one day later. The Vikings' secured the early doubles point against Wright State with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. They went on to win four of their six singles matches at the top and bottom of the lineup. On Apr. 2 CSU failed to win in doubles or singles action against Butler. Despite rallying back from a first-set deficit, No. 1 Olivier Dhaine lost the closest match of the day 6-0, 5-7 (13-11), to Brandon Gill.
The women also topped Wright State 5-2 on Apr. 1, thanks to strong play at the top and bottom of the lineup. After securing wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles the Vikings went on to win at No. 1, 4, 5 and 6 singles. On Sunday (Apr. 2) Cleveland State struggled to find its rhythm, falling to Butler 6-1. No. 4 Morgan Ungerott claimed the only victory of the day, downing Shaden Dowiatt 6-2, 6-3.
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: "Last year the match against UW-Green Bay was a nailbiter. We won 4-3 thanks to a great win at No. 1 doubles which ended up being the difference. I'm expecting this to be a very tough match, but I'm excited with how our team has improved since last year. Green Bay has some new players at the bottom of their lineup. UW-Milwaukee finished last in the conference this past year but they've had more competitive results this year. We're not going to take them lightly at all."
ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "Youngtown is a team we've had the chance to play a lot. We've gotten two new people since the last time we played and they have one new player so there will be different matchups this time around. I feel our men's team has come a long way since the first day of the season so they'll come out ready to play. Last year we beat Robbert Morris, but they have a new coach and with a new coach comes new players so I'm expecting them to be more competitive than last year as well. Brad Groleski has been playing especially well for us lately so hopefully we can look to him to lead us this weekend."
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: As the newest addition to the Viking lineup, junior transfer Olivier Dhaine is showing signs of great promise for the future. No. 1 Dhaine, a native of France, is 11-4 for the spring after splitting the weekend against conference foes Wright State and Butler (Apr. 1-2). On Apr. 1 Dhaine downed the Raiders' Lance Koetter 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). One day later He fell to Butler's Brandon Gill 6-0, 5-7 (13-11). Dhaine was named the Horizon League Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of Mar. 20.
FOURMOST AUTHORITY: No. 4 Morgan Ungerott is 15-3 on the season after downing Wright State and Butler in conference action this past weekend. On a three-match winning streak, Ungerott outhustled Wright State's Laura Culbertson 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Apr. 1. The next day she defeated Shaden Dowiatt of Butler 6-2, 6-3.
A FRESH APPROACH: Freshman Steven Wipprecht is adding some serious depth to the Viking lineup at No. 6 singles, posting a 15-11 record on the season. On Apr. 1 he knocked off Michael Hall of Wright State 6-4, 6-3. His two- match winning streak ended the next day with a tough 6-1, 6-1 loss to Eric Bretenback of Butler.
DOUBLE DUTY: The No. 1 doubles pair of Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott have been nothing short of impressive lately, with a 18-7 record on the season. The duo downed Tiffani Foster and Audra Beckett of Wright State in a 9-8 nail biter on Apr. 1. The Vikings' went on an eight-match winning streak from Feb. 17-Mar. 14 before falling to Duquesne 9-8 (7-2) on Mar. 23.
BEYOND THE HORIZON: When not on the tennis court, senior Jay 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.
ONE FOR THE MONEY: One more win and the women's tennis team will have the most wins in CSU history. The women are currently 14-9 on the season. The Vikings went 14-12 in 2004-05 under coach Brian Etzkin. Since his arrival at CSU in 2002 Etzkin has turned the program around. In his first season the women went 2-24.
A DOUBLE DOSE: The No. 2 men's doubles team of Rob West and Dan Singer, and the No. 3 team of Brad Groleski and Steven Wipprecht are both 6-5 on the season after splitting this past weekend against Wright State and Butler. The No. 2 and No. 3 pairs downed the Raiders 8-0 and 8-6, respectively, on Apr. 1 before both fell to Butler 8-2 on Apr. 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.
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: Both the men and women travel to Chicago, Ill. on Apr. 15 to battle the UIC Flames.