April 23, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The second seeded Cleveland State women's tennis team will begin play in the Horizon League Championship with a semifinal match on Saturday (April 24) at 2:30 p.m.
The Vikings, who earned a bye into the semifinals by virtue of finishing in the top two of the league standings, will play the winner of Friday's opening round match between third-seeded Detroit and sixth-seeded Green Bay.
CSU clinched the No. 2 seed last Saturday with a 4-3 win at Detroit and also knocked off Green Bay in the regular season, 6-1.
The winner of the semifinal match will advance to Sunday's championship, which is scheduled for Sunday (April 25) at 12:30 p.m.
UIC is the top seed after going undefeated in league play at 8-0 and will play in the other semifinal against the winner of a first round match between fourth-seeded Butler and fifth-seeded Youngstown State.
All matches will be played at North Central H.S. at 1801 E. 86th Street in Indianapolis. However, there is a chance that rain could push the matches indoors to a site that will be determined.
The Vikings enter the league championship with a 15-11 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the league, allowing CSU to finish a program best second place in the standings.
"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to finish in the top three of the league standings," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "And every member of the team worked hard to help us accomplish that goal by practicing hard day in and day out which translated to results on the court.
"It's exciting to share this as a program and I hope that this young core of players can continue to work together and grow together in the coming seasons. We are excited to be able to get a bye into the semifinals of the league tournament, but we know that we will have a tough match and will have to maintain our intensity and focus.
"Our doubles play has been strong all year and we are going to have to bring it again because I have a feeling that point could decided a lot of matches this weekend."
CSU was in action just one time last week, closing the regular season with a 4-3 win at Detroit, last year's runner-up at the league tournament. Both teams knew going into the match that the winner would clinch the No. 2 seed in the tournament and a bye into the semifinals.
"Getting that win was one of the biggest moments I have had as a coach," Etzkin said. "We have been working so hard to get to that point as a program and I was so proud of the team to accomplish that."
The Vikings won the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles and went on to win three singles matches to clinch the win. Freshman Mengdi Liu's win at the No. 6 spot was the deciding victory.
CSU has received strong doubles play throughout the season, highlighted by the No. 1 team of Catrine Bjerrehus and Charlotte Gibbons who have gone 18-8, including a school record 11 straight wins at one point.
The No. 2 team of Maria Lazaris and Nicole Janek and No. 3 squad of Sanda Bjelan and Liu have been playing together since mid-season when Liu became eligible and have continued to gain comfort on the court with each other.
Lazaris, who is in the running for Horizon League Freshman of the Year, leads the team with a 21-13 singles mark at the No. 2 slot. Gibbons is 18-14 at No. 3, while Janek has posted an 18-15 mark, playing No. 4 singles.
Bjerrehus has solidified the top spot in the order for the last two seasons and is 16-18 this year, while Bjelan (17-17 at No. 5) and Liu (9-7 at No. 6) round out the lineup.
"We have played some tough matches this season against some great teams," Etzkin said. "This is the moment we have been working toward and we just have to go out with a lot of energy and intensity, have fun and the rest will take care of itself."
