Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Cleveland State University

The Official Home of the Cleveland State University Vikings

Vikings Host Butler & Wright State In Final Homestand

Vikings Host Butler & Wright State In Final Homestand
Posted: Apr 18, 2012

April 18, 2012

Contact: Renee Adam

Follow the Vikings on TWITTER
CSU Athletics on YouTube

Complete Cleveland State NotesGet Acrobat Reader

***Saturday's match against Butler will now begin at 12:00 p.m.***

QUICK SETS
The Vikings will close out the regular season with a two-match homestand this weekend, hosting Butler and Wright State. CSU will face the Bulldogs on Saturday, April 21 at 12:00 p.m. and the Raiders on Sunday, April 22 at 11:00 a.m. Entering the week, CSU stands at 13-8 on the year and 5-1 in the Horizon League, defeating Valparaiso (7-0) and falling to UIC (5-2) last weekend.

THE OPPONENTS
Butler enters Saturday's contest with a 7-13 overall record and a 4-2 mark in league play after splitting its last six contests. The last time out, the Bulldogs fell to Milwaukee (6-1) and swept Green Bay (7-0). Butler has five players with double-digit wins this season, led by Cam Thompson and Gabrielle Rubenstein who both have 13 wins.

Wright State currently stands at 9-11 overall and 3-3 in Horizon League matches, and will face Youngstown State before Sunday's contest with the Vikings. The Raiders have split their last four league matches, most recently falling to Milwaukee (6-1). Amy Nini has a team-best 4-2 mark in league action, playing at No. 4 and No. 5 singles.

Under head coach Brian Etzkin the Vikings own an 8-2 record against Wright State and a 3-8 record against Butler.

POWER PERFECT IN HL PLAY
Alex Power enters the weekend with a 6-0 record in Horizon League matches, one of just four players to be undefeated in league play (UIC; Mariya Kovaleva, Elisa Simonetti & Jana Knoppe). Power, who has a 4-0 record at No. 6 singles and a 2-0 mark at No. 5 singles, is the third Viking over the past five seasons to own a perfect record in league matches with at least four victories.

...AND LOOKS TO EXTEND WIN STREAK
Not only does Alex Power enter the weekend with a perfect record in league play, she also enters Saturday's contest on a seven-match win streak. Power's win streak marks the longest of the season for Cleveland State and dates back to the March 15 contest against Albany. During that stretch she has defeated her opponents by a mark of 6-0 or 6-1 during nine of the 15 sets.

GOING FOR THE SWEEP
Last Sunday's 7-0 victory at Valparaiso marked the fourth sweep of the season for the Vikings, and marked Cleveland State's sixth win out of its past seven matches. Earlier this season the Vikings also earned sweeps against Case Western Reserve, Oakland and Dayton.

VIKINGS REACH 100 SINGLES WINS
So far this season the Vikings have recorded 106 singles wins, marking the sixth time that CSU has recorded at least 100 wins under head coach Brian Etzkin. The 106 wins this season ranks sixth all-time under Etzkin, with the 131 wins that the 2007-08 team recorded leading the way.

SHERWOOD TWO VICTORIES SHY OF 20-WIN SEASON
Kara Sherwood enters the final week of the regular season just two wins shy of recording her first 20-win season, standing at 18-13 in singles action. If Sherwood was to post at least two more victories this season she would become the third Viking to reach 20-wins this year (Alex Power, Nicole Janek) and the 12th all-time.

2011-12 SENIOR DAY
Sunday's match against Wright State will be Catrine Bjerrehus' final regular season contest in a Viking uniform. During her four years at CSU she:
-Ranks fourth all-time with 59 career singles wins
-Is one of nine Vikings to record 20 or more wins in a season
-Has been a three-time First Team All-Horizon League selection
-Has been a seven-time Horizon League Women's Tennis Player of the Week honoree
-Has led the Vikings to an overall record of 58-43, including a 24-6 mark in league contests

VIKINGS ON ALL-TIME WINS LIST
A trio of Vikings enter the week ranked in the top-seven all-time on the career singles wins list, led by Catrine Bjerrehus who ranks fourth with 59 career singles wins. Maria Lazaris and Nicole Janek are the other two Vikings to rank in the top-seven, Lazaris standing at sixth with 53 wins and Janek ranking seventh with 52 victories.

FAN APPRECIATION WEEKEND
The final regular season homestand will serve as Fan Appreciation weekend for Viking tennis, with the following events happening at the Butler and Wright State matches this weekend:
Saturday vs. Butler - April 21
-FREE Jimmy John's sandwich, Ballreich's chips and a cookie to the first 30 fans at the women's contest against Butler
-Tennis BINGO during the men's contest against Butler - make sure to pick up your playing card at the marketing table for your chance to win a CSU prize while cheering on the Vikings

Sunday vs. Wright State - April 22
-FREE Jimmy John's sandwich, Ballreich's chips and a cookie to the first 30 fans at the men's contest against Wright State
-Tennis BINGO during the women's contest against Wright State - make sure to pick up your playing card at the marketing table for your chance to win a CSU prize while cheering on the Vikings

NEXT UP
Next weekend the Vikings will participate in the 2012 Horizon League Championship in Indianapolis, Ind. Action at the championship begins with quarterfinals on Friday, April 27, continues with the semifinals on Saturday, April 28 and concludes with the championship match on Sunday, April 29. This weekend's results will determine CSU's seed for the upcoming tournament.