WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team had a pair of runner-up finishes at the Purdue Invitational Sunday - Matt Ford and Jorg van der Vloet in the B Doubles Bracket and van der Vloet in the C Consolation Singles Bracket.
"We had some great semifinal performances today from Matt Ford and Jorg in doubles and Jorg in singles, but we just weren't able to pull out the wins in the finals," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "In doubles, Matt Ford and Jorg had a solid win against a Green Bay duo in the semfinals, and it's always good to get a win against a league opponent during fall play. We are playing better and better in doubles every time we step on the court, and now we just need to finish out matches and give ourselves a better chance to win."
In their first match of the day, Ford and van der Vloet picked up an 8-4 win over Leo Gomez-Islinger and Rowan Isaaks of Green Bay in the semifinals, advancing to the championship match. In the championship match the Viking duo faced the Toledo team of Garrett Cona and Stejepan Sisko, falling to the Rockets, 8-6. Ford and van der Vloet ended the weekend with a 4-1 doubles record.
"Jorg was able to get a win over a good Louisville player in his semifinal contest, and came up just short in the finals. He played lights out in the first set, but in the second he looked like he was running on beanbags. He came back in the tiebreaker, but couldn't quite pull it off. I am encouraged to see him playing better tennis right now, and I know that he will be playing at a high-level again soon," Etzkin said.
van der Vloet continued his strong play on the final day of the Purdue Invitational in the C Consolation Singles bracket – picking up a 7-5, 6-3 win over Louisville's Felipe Frias in the semifinals, before falling to Ricky Medinilla of Purdue, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8) in the consolation championship match.
"We were also able to pick up some good wins in the Last Hope Draw today, and I was happy to see that we played better tennis as the weekend went on. Today, we had a chance to win every match that we were playing in, and overall I thought we had a strong last day," Etzkin said.
The Vikings went 3-1 in the 'Last Hope Draw' Sunday, with Matt Kuelker, Ali Shabib and Nolan Marks each picking up a victory, while Joe VanMeter came up just short in a tiebreak match.
The Vikings will now take a week off from competition, and will resume the fall season at the Notre Dame Invitational (Friday, October 4 – Sunday, October 6).
CSU Results
B Doubles
Ford/van der Vloet (CSU) def. Gomez-Islinger/Isaaks (GB), 8-4
Cona/Siska (UT) def. Ford/van der Vloet (CSU), 8-6
C Consolation Singles
Jorg van der Vloet (CSU) def. Felipe Frias (UL), 7-5, 6-3
Ricky Medinilla (PUR) def. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU), 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8)
Last Hope Draw
Kuelker (CSU) def. Bonfre (Valpo), 6-4, 7-5
Shabib (CSU) def. Weerasingle (BU), 7-6, 6-2
Marks (CSU) def. Kandarikar (UC), 6-2, 6-2
Abunku (XU) def. VanMeter (CSU), 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 (7)
