Women's Tennis Heads To Bowling Green Invitational

Posted: Sep 15, 2009

Sept. 15, 2009

Match 1

Bowling Green Invitational
Date: Saturday, Sept. 19-Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009
Time: All Day
Site: Keefe Tennis Courts - Bowling Green, Ohio

OPENING VOLLEY: Cleveland State begins its fall season when the Vikings travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to compete in the Bowling Green Invitational on Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 19-20).

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Eighth-year head coach Brian Etzkin returns five players from last year's team that finished 17-11 with a 5-3 conference record and placed fifth in the Horizon League Championship after a consolation win over Milwaukee. Leading the way is first team All-Horizon selection Catrine Bjerrehus (21-17 singles, 17-15 doubles) and second team All-Horizon honoree Charlotte Gibbons (13-19, 17-15). Also returning are junior Sanda Bjelan (23-12, 23-9), sophomore Molly Drake (9-7. 6-7) and senior Denisa Muntean (5-2, 4-3).

IT ALL STARTS WITH COACHING: Entering his seventh season as head coach, Brian Etzkin has completely rebuilt the women's tennis program. Before his arrival, the team had not won double-digit matches since 1983, but Etzkin reached that feat in just his second season. Already far and above Cleveland State's all-time wins leader, Etzkin needs just six more wins to reach 100 in his career.

CAN'T STOP CATRINE: An Aarhus, Denmark native, Catrine Bjerrehus did not take long to establish herself as a big-time Division I player. After a stellar fall campaign, Bjerrehus found herself in the No. 1 spot and finished the year with 21 singles wins. Those achievements and a Vikings' No. 1 doubles spot earned her 20 wins and a place on the All-Horizon first team.

SENSATIONAL CHARLOTTE: A 20 match singles winner her freshman and sophomore seasons, Charlotte Gibbons earned second-team All-Horizon honors for the second time in her career during her junior season. Gibbons, an Irchester, England native, needs just six wins to pass the 60 win mark in singles and two wins to give her 50 in doubles.

HELLO TO THE NEWCOMERS: The Vikings are welcoming three new players to their team this season. Mengdi Lui joins the team from Beijing, China, where she trained under coach Yue Wang, playing mostly in Thailand. Nicole Janek was a Viking from birth, as her father Nikolas is a CSU alum. Janek was a two-time all state selection in high school. Scituate, Mass. native Maria Lazaris rounds out the pack. Lazaris, who won state titles in both singles and doubles, and also won two USTA tournaments.

MUNTEAN RETURNS: Ready for a bounceback year, senior Denisa Muntean is sure to lead on and off the court. Muntean only appeared in seven singles matches last season due to the depth of the team, but has shown the capability to be a bigtime player, posting 26 wins in her sophomore season. Muntean will be a good source of depth for the Vikings.

THE SWISS SENIOR: Sanda Bjelan is attempting to finish out her CSU career with a bang. The senior is coming off of a season in which she led the Vikings in singles wins with 23 as she was a real strength at the bottom of the rotation. She also was a spark in doubles, combining for 19 wins with Myra Pepino.

UP NEXT: After the Bowling Green Invitational, the tennis team will travel to East Lansing to compete in the Michigan State Invitational on Sept. 25-27 (Friday to Sunday).