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Vikings Travel to Valparaiso on Saturday, UIC on Sunday

Vikings Travel to Valparaiso on Saturday, UIC on Sunday
Posted: Apr 14, 2008

April 14, 2008

Contact: Jessica Gerich

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CLEVELAND STATE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS
at Valparaiso
Date: Saturday, April 19
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Valparaiso, Ind.

at UIC
Date: Sunday, April 19
Time: 10:00 a.m.(women), 1:00 p.m (men)
Location: Chicago, Ill.

FIRST SERVE: The Cleveland State men's and women's tennis teams wrap up their Horizon League regular season schedule this weekend, with matches at Valparaiso and UIC. The Vikings face Valparaiso on Saturday, April 19 at 10:00 a.m. and UIC on Sunday, April 20. The women take on the Flames at 10:00 a.m., while the men play at 1:00 p.m.

PREVIEWING THE VIKING MEN: CSU went 2-0 over the weekend, defeating Green Bay 6-1 on Saturday and swept Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon. The Vikings are currently in third place in the Horizon League standings, only one match behind second place UIC. 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 22-9 record, predominately at No. 1 singles, while Hamning, an all-league second team selection has a 15-13 record at No. 2 singles. Senior Brad Groleski is 13-8 at No. 3 singles while freshman Chris Klepatz has gone 14-12 at No. 4 singles. Junior Rob West and freshman Robert Fox are 12-17 and 20-7, respectively, to wrap up the bottom of the Viking lineup. Orno has won 15 consecutive singles matches, while Fox has won 12 straight.

PREVIEWING THE VIKING WOMEN: The Vikings swept Green Bay and Milwaukee over the weekend, dropping only two doubles matches. CSU is currently in third place in the Horizon League, behind Butler and UIC. Freshmen Melissa Holzinger (15-17) and Jackie Tabb (10-17) form the top of the Viking lineup. Senior Jenn Myers is 15-13 at No. 3 singles, while freshman Sanda Bjelan is 22-9 at No. 4 singles. Second team All-Horizon League selection Charlotte Gibbons and Denisa Muntean hold down the bottom part of the lineup, with 16-5 and 20-10 records at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively. Gibbons has won six consecutive singles matches for the Vikings.

THE HEAD COACH
Brian Etzkin (Southern Illinois, `98)
Men's Record: 77-68
Women's Record: 74-82
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 WEEKEND: "This past weekend was banquet weekend for our program where we celebrated our successes and honored our seniors who will be moving on after this season. We had a large crowd this weekend and the atmosphere was electric. Both teams came out with tremendous energy and came away with two victories apiece."

ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "This upcoming weekend we have matches against Valparaiso and UIC.If we can win both of these matches we can assure ouselves the No. 2 seed for the Horizon League Championship."

ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: "Our doubles play has improved and we have played solid throughout the entire lineup. Everyone is competing at a higher level than the beginning of the season. We have put ourselves in a position to finish in third place or higher in the regular season which we have never done before."

SWEEPS: The women's team has won eight matches by a 7-0 score, including three of six against Horizon League opponents. In the Vikings Feb. 9 match against St. Francis (PA), the squad lost only one game in the entire match. The men's team follows with four sweeps, with one coming against Horizon League opponent Youngstown State.

THEY HAVE BEEN ROBBED: Junior Rob West and freshman Rob Fox form the men's No. 2 doubles team, going 15-8 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 (Jan. 19).

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 22-9 record while Fox, a Rotterdam, Netherlands native, has a 21-7 mark. Bjelan leads the team in in singles victories, while Fox is second to Phil Orno (22). Bjelan owns an 14-14 doubles record while Fox has tallied a 15-9 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 15 consecutive singles match victories. Freshman Robert Fox follows with 12 straight, with the streak dating to Feb. 9. Freshman Sanda Bjelan leads the women's team with a seven match win streak, from January 27 to February 24. Sophomore Charlotte Gibbons currently holds a six match win streak, beginning on March 11 against Radford. 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 (Feb. 27).

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. Ungerott currently has 81 doubles wins for her career.

UP NEXT: The Cleveland State men's and women's tennis teams travel to Indianapolis, Ind. for the Horizon League Championship. The matches take place Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27 at North Central High School.