Sept. 29, 2007

Contact: Brian McCann

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Cleveland State routed Big East member Cincinnati in singles as part of opening day play at the Spartan Invitational.

After opening the day with a 3-0 doubles loss to Toledo, the Vikings rebounded to put in one of their best team efforts of the season in upending the Bearcats, 4-2.

"It is always nice to win against another team from Ohio so the win over Cincinnati was a very good one," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "It is our goal to be the best team in the state and to accomplish that, we need to make the most of our opportunities.

Freshman Melissa Holzinger set the tone in the win over Cincinnati, routing UC's Alizee Paradis, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Sophomores Sanda Bjelan and Denisa Muntean, playing at no. 4 and no. 5 singles, respectively, also won in straight sets while Jenn Myers rallied from a set down to defeat UC's Valeriya Dandik, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 to claim the deciding point.

"Jenn played a tough match today," Etzkin said. "But she did what she needed to do and even though she was down a set, she came back and made the team win possible."

Cleveland State struggled the rest of the day, opening play by dropping all three doubles matches to Toledo and ending the day with a 6-1 loss in singles against a team comprised of players from both Louisville and Albany.

"We played better in our doubles match today than we did during our first two tournaments, but we can still do much better," Etzkin said. "We need to be more aggressive on the court, which is something that we can show tomorrow. Thankfully, we'll play two more doubles rounds."

The highlight of the Louisville/Albany match came at No. 4 for CSU where Muntean claimed a 7-5, 6-1 straight set victory over Albany's Aimee Kern to claim her second singles win of the day.

Cleveland State concludes play on Sunday with doubles matches against both Detroit (8:00 a.m.) and Morehead State (9:30 a.m.) before taking on host Michigan State in singles beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Doubles: Toledo 3, CSU 0
No. 1: Martina Wodzinski/Maha Guiirguis (UT) def. Melissa Holzinger/Charlotte Gibbons (CSU), 8-4
No. 2: Jenny Belsky/Nadia Zoubareva (UT) def. Sanda Bjelan/Morgan Ungerott (CSU), 9-7
No. 3: Ashley Frey/Jessica Azoulay (UT) def. Jackie Tabb/Denisa Muntean (CSU), 8-5
Exh: Kathryn Bonnen/Marianne Eelens (MSU) def. Lindsay Sellers/Christine Vogelgesang (CSU), 8-2

Singles: CSU 4, Cincinnati 2 No. 1: Melissa Holzinger (CSU) def. Alizee Paradis (UC), 6-0, 6-1
No. 2: Tess Reddin (UC) def. Jackie Tabb (CSU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 3: Jenn Myers (CSU) def. Valeriya Dandik (UC), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0)
No. 4: Sanda Bjelan (CSU) def. Jenny Rowen (UC), 6-2, 7-6 (1)
No. 5: Denisa Muntean (CSU) def. Elizabeth young (UC), 7-5, 6-3
No. 6: Jennifer Keiner (UC) def. Lindsay Sellers (CSU), 6-4, 6-2
Exh: Laura Hemlett (Akron) def. Morgan Ungerott (CSU), 6-2, 6-0
Exh.: Kathryn Bonnen (MSU) def. Christine Vogelgesang (CSU), 6-3, 7-6 (2)

Singles Louisville/Albany 6, CSU 1
No. 1: Lindsey Jones (UL) def. Melissa Holzinger (CSU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2: Bianca Gorbea (UL) def. Jackie Tabb (CSU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Kim Weltman (Alb.) def. Jenn Myers (CSU), 6-4, 2-6, 10-2
No. 4: Natalie Baez (UL) def. Sanda Bjelan (CSU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 5: Denisa Muntean (CSU) def. Aimee Kern (Alb.), 7-5, 6-1
No. 6: Jo-Ann Aerde (UL) def. Lindsay Sellers (CSU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 7: Katherina Tomalak (UL) def. Morgan Ungerott (CSU), 6-2, 6-0