April 18, 2006
SETTING THE SCENE: The men's tennis team host John Carroll on April 20 in its last regular season match. Both the men and women travel to Indianapolis, Ind. for the Horizon League Tournament on April 22-23.
LAST TIME OUT: The men's team struggled to find its rhythm against conference foe UIC, falling to the Flames 5-2 on April 15. At 10-12 on the season, the Vikings went 1-3 in doubles action with an 8-5 win at the No. 2 spot. In singles CSU went 2-6 with wins a the No. 3 and No. 5 positions. The men are 3-3 in conference play.
The women's team ended its season with a tough 7-0 loss to UIC on April 15. Injuries sidlened two of the Vikings, forcing the team to forfeit one doubles match and two singles matches. The flames downed CSU in two 6-2, 6-3 matches and two 6-0, 6-0 shutouts. The women end their season 16-10 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
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 MEN: "John Carroll is a team we don't play every year but it's always fun to play other teams in the Cleveland area. It'll be exciting to have a match where a lot of the players are from Ohio and its our last tune up before the League tournament. We'll have Wright State in the first round and ast time out we beat them 5-2. There are some spots we're favored at down low in the lineup because our strength is in our depth, so it will probably come down to doubles and what we do in the top half."
ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: "The women are also playing Wright State in the first round of the tournament. Last year we lost to them in the first round after beating them in regular season, so we don't want to let that happen again. We have to get healthy this week and there's a chance we'll have the full team intact by the weekend."
SINGING A NEW TUNE: After going 2-5 in the fall at No. 3 singles, Dan Singer has turned things around this spring at the No. 5 spot and enters his final regular season contest with a 13-12 mark. Singer went 2-0 against UIC (April 15), earning his ninth win with partner Rob West at No. 2 doubles with an 8-5 victory over Enrico Kasjan and Adriano Liccardo. Singer topped Andy Lockhart 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 in singles.
BREAKING IT IN: After a year-long haitus due to a broken wrist, sophomore Brad Groleski has once again found his rhythm with the Vikings. At 9-9 on the season, No. 3 Groleski is on a three-match winning streak. Most recently he downded UIC's Enrico Kasjan 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 10-7. On April 9 Groleski shut out Robert Morris 6-0, 6-0, just one day after knocking off Youngstown 6-2, 6-2.
DOUBLE DUTY: The No. 1 doubles pair of Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott have been nothing short of impressive lately, combining for a 20-8 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.
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.
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 16-10, 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 10-12 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.
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.
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 Indianapolis, Ind. for the Horizon League Championships April 22-23.