SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team continued play at the Notre Dame Invitational Saturday, posting a perfect 3-0 doubles mark and picking up six singles victories.
"We struggled to get going this morning, but we picked up our play as the day went on and ended the day playing some good tennis," assistant coach Frank Polito said. "We swept all three doubles matches and I think we are playing our best doubles that I have seen all season right now. Nolan and Ali both picked up some solid bounce-back singles wins today, both of them competing and playing really well in their respective matches."
The Vikings swept their doubles matches Saturday afternoon, picking up a pair of victories over Western Michigan and one against Notre Dame. Ali Shabib and Joe VanMeter posted an 8-5 victory over Notre Dame, while Manuel Bellutti and Matt Kuelker earned an 8-4 win over WMU along with van der Vloet and Ford (8-6). The two CSU doubles teams of Shabib/VanMeter and Bellutti/Kuelker improved their doubles records on the weekend to 2-0.
In the morning session, CSU picked up two singles wins from Jorg van der Vloet and Nolan Marks. Marks tallied a 6-4, 6-5 victory over an opponent from Western Michigan, while van der Vloet earned a 6-0, 6-0 victory against a Michigan State opponent.
After dropping his first match of the day, Shabib bounced back to pick up a 6-2, 5-6, 6-4 victory over Billy Pecor from Notre Dame – one of the top singles players in the UND lineup. Also picking up singles wins during the afternoon session were VanMeter (6-4, 2-6, 6-1), Bellutti (6-2, 6-2) and Kuelker (6-3, 3-6, 6-1).
Cleveland State will wrap up play at the Notre Dame Invitational tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 6), with play beginning at 9:00 a.m.
CSU Results
Singles - Morning
Simich (UL) def. Kuelker (CSU), 6-3, 6-1
Lawson (UND) def. Shabib (CSU), 6-3, 6-1
Covalschi (UND) def. VanMeter (CSU), 6-3, 6-3
van der Vloet (CSU) def. Zade (MSU), 6-0, 6-0
Treis (WMU) def. Ford (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
Hamilton (WMU) def. Bellutti (CSU), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
Marks (CSU) def. Mora (WMU), 6-4, 6-5
Singles – Afternoon
Shabib (CSU) def. Pecor (UND), 6-2, 5-6, 6-4
Cahn (WMU) def. van der Vloet (CSU), 6-3, 6-3
VanMeter (CSU) def. Dooley (UND), 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
Bellutti (CSU) def. Heeder (MSU), 6-2, 6-2
Mora (WMU) def. Ford (CSU), 6-1, 6-0
Kuelker (CSU) def. Schnurrenberger (UND), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Doubles
Shabib/VanMeter (CSU) def. Dooley/McCoy (UND), 8-5
Bellutti/Kuelker (CSU) def. Treis/Mora (WMU), 8-4
van der Vloet/Ford (CSU) def. Greiner/Phillips (WMU), 8-6
