April 13, 2006
SETTING THE SCENE: The men's and women's tennis teams take to the road to battle conference foe UIC on April 15. The match will mark the end of regular season play for the women, while the men have an April 20 contest against John Carroll.
LAST TIME OUT: The women improved to 4-2 in conference play and 16-9 on the season after downing UW-Green Bay 4-0 (April 8) and UW-Milwaukee 6-1 (April9). CSU topped UW-Green Bay, 8-3 and 8-5, at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, respectively, before going three-for-three in singles. The following day the Vikings swept the doubles point against UW-Milwuakee 8-2, 8-6, and 8-3. With the early lead in hand, the women went on to win five of the six singles matches at the top and bottom of the lineup.
The men's team boosted their conference record to 3-2 with a 5-2 win over Youngstown on April 8. After sweeping the doubles point the Vikings secured two-set wins at No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles. On April 9 the men blanked Robert Morris 7-0, improving to 10-11 on the season. Highlighting the day was senior Jay Tee's thrilling 5-7, 6-0, 10-5 victory over Youssef Mekaoui at No. 2 singles.
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 42. 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: "We're coming off a great weekend where we assured ourselves a finish in the top half of the conference. With a little help I still think we can finish third, which would be our best finish ever. UIC has won the conference the last several years but we're gaining on them. We have a little bit of an injury bug right now with some players questionable for this weekend and without their help we'll be struggling, but hopefully they will be cleared and ready to go."
ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "There's some crazinesss going on in the conference right now with teams beating each other and at this point if we beat UIC we will finish second, earning us a by in the first round of the tournament. So we have something big to play for this weekend and I believe we can get it done."
SWEET SUCCESS: The women's 4-0 victory over UW-Green Bay on April 8 marked the Vikings' 15th win of the season, making them the winningest women's tennis team in school history. At 16-9, the women have two more wins then the 2004-05 team, which went 14-12. The current record marks a drastic turnaround for a program that went 2-24 in 2002-03.
TENDENCY TO WIN: At 10-11 on the season, the CSU men's tennis program is now in its third-straight season with 10+ wins. The Vikings went 13-11 in 2003-04 and 10-12 in 2004-05 under coach Etzkin.
FOREMOST AUTHORITY: No. 3 Morgan Ungerott is 17-13 on the season after downing UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee (April 8-9). On a five-match winning streak in conference play, Ungerott outhustled UW-Green Bay's Aschley Jurgella 6-0, 6-2 on April 8. The following day she knocked off Shayna Illingworth of UW-Milwaukee 6-2, 6-3.
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: With the regular season nearing its end, junior transfer Olivier Dhaine continues to lead the Vikings at No. 1 singles. A native of France, Dhaine went 1-1 April 8-9, falling to Youngstown 6-3, 7-5 before rebounding with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Robert Morris to improve to 11-5 on the season. Dhaine was named the Horizon League Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of Mar. 20.
DOUBLE DUTY: The No. 1 doubles pair of Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott have been nothing short of impressive lately, combining for a 20-7 record on the season. With a 5-1 mark in conference play, the dynamic duo downed Heather Harding and Aschley Jurgella of UW-Green Bay 8-3 on April 8. On April 9 the women topped UW-Milwaukee's Margie Van Lieshout and Traci Litscher 8-2. The Vikings' went on an eight-match winning streak from Feb. 17-March 14 before falling to Duquesne 9-8 (7-2) on March 23.
FOURGING AHEAD: Five members of the women's tennis team went 4-0 from March 12-14 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: 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.
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 8-5 on the season after going two-for-two this past weekend. The No. 2 and No. 3 pairs downed Youngstown 8-6 and 8-2, respectively, on April 8. One day later the No. 2 team topped Robert Morris 8-4 while the No. 3 pair downed the Colonials 8-1.
A FRESH APPROACH: Freshman Steven Wipprecht is adding some serious depth to the Viking lineup at No. 6 singles, posting a 17-11 record on the season. Most recently, Youngstown's Sarantis Karousis fell to the Viking 6-4, 6-11on Apr. 8. One day later Wipprecht topped John maas of Robert Morris 6-1, 6-1.
ONE FOR THE MONEY, TWO FOR THE SHOW: No. 1 Sarah Galon and No. 2 Jenn Myers went two-for-two in conference play April 8-9. Galon and Myers downed UW-Green bay 6-1, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-0, respectively (April 8). The following day Galon topped UW-Milwaukee 6-1, 6-0, while Myers knocked off the Panthers 6-3, 6-2.
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 host John Carroll on April 20 in their final regular season match before the Horizon League Championships Apr. 22-23.