CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team opened up their 2014 spring season Friday evening, falling to Western Michigan, 4-3.
"Overall I thought we had a good first match today, I think our singles play is definitely seeing improvements from last year, but our doubles play might be lacking a bit in the early going," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "This was a tough team for us to face in our first match of the year, and I think if we played them later on this season we could get the win. It was a back and forth match, with both teams holding the advantage throughout the contest, which makes for very exciting tennis. I was happy with the way we performed today, and am excited about what this season will bring."
The Broncos were able to pick up the first point of the match, claiming all three doubles matches for the early 1-0 lead.
Cleveland State then had a strong singles performance, getting victories from Matt Kuelker, Manuel Bellutti, and Nolan Marks. The three singles wins kept the Vikings in the match, until WMU was finally able to close out the contest – also posting three wins in singles play.
Kuelker posted a 6-5 (4), 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles, while Bellutti earned a 6-4, 6-3 win at the No. 5 spot, and Marks recorded a 1-6, 6-5 (4), 6-2 win at No. 6 singles.
The Vikings will continue their spring season on Sunday (Jan. 26), traveling to Ball State for a 2:00 p.m. contest.
***Viking tennis fans who are interested in following the women's match vs. Akron Saturday (Jan. 25), can follow live twitter updates by following @CSUVikingTennis.***
Western Michigan 4, Cleveland State 3
Doubles:
1. Indre/Payne (WMU) def. Shabib/VanMeter (CSU), 6-5 (6)
2. Cahn/Treis (WMU) def. Kuelker/Mick (CSU), 6-1
3. Greiner/Beckwith (WMU) def. van der Vloet/Ford (CSU), 6-4
Singles:
1. Nadin Indre (WMU) def. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU), 6-5 (10), 5-6 (5), 6-0
2. Ruben Greiner (WMU) def. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-5 (7), 6-5 (6)
3. Matt Kuelker (CSU) def. Andrew Cahn (WMU), 6-5 (4), 6-3
4. Jim Beckwith (WMU) def. Joe VanMeter (CSU), 6-2, 5-6 (5), 6-1
5. Manuel Bellutti (CSU) def. Michael Treis (WMU), 6-4, 6-3
6. Nolan Marks (CSU) def. Pablo Mora (WMU), 1-6, 6-5 (4), 6-2
