April 25, 2009
Contact: Dana Ingraham
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Seven members of the Cleveland State Viking tennis program were honored Friday night with postseason awards from the Horizon League.
Head coach Brian Etzkin was named men's Coach of the Year after leading the Viking men to a 17-5 record in the regular season and a perfect 7-0 in the Horizon League.
This is the second time Etzkin has been awarded this honor on the men's side, having also been recognized in 2007.
"Receiving this award is not only an honor for me, it is an honor for the entire program," Etzkin said. "It's a nice thing to be respected in this way by my peers, but I had the help and support from my assistants and my players as well. Our true goal for this weekend still remains, and that is to win another conference championship."
Four other Viking men were also selected for various league honors.
Phil Orno, and Ryan Hamning were named to the All-Horizon League first team. The juniors have only dropped one conference match in both of their singles and doubles efforts combined. The lone loss came against Detroit when Orno fell at first singles to the 2009 Player of the Year, Pjotrs Necajevs.
Rob West earned the first All-League recognition of his career at Cleveland State, as he was named to the league's second team.
Fellow senior Steven Wipprecht was given the Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award for his commendable conduct on and off the tennis court. The SAAC president has served as a distinguished ambassador for Cleveland State and Horizon League tennis in his four years.
"Phil and Ryan really deserve first team honors for their outstanding performance in the conference this year," said Etzkin. "It was great to see our seniors earn some hardware, too, as their college careers are coming to a close. "
Two Viking women were chosen for All-League teams. Catrine Bjerrehus, arguably Cleveland State's top newcomer, was the first CSU women's player to be named to the Horizon League's first team since standout Sarah Galon, who earned the honor for four consecutive years from 2004 to 2007.
Charlotte Gibbons earned second team honors for the second time in her career. She was also named to the league's second team as a freshman.
"It was another great honor for us to have two women on the All-League teams," Etzkin said. "Both Catrine and Charlotte have played some good tennis this year that got them to where they are today. We still want to continually improve on the women's side and hopefully earn similar honors in years to come."