KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team began play at the Western Michigan Invitational Friday, playing three rounds of doubles with Ali Shabib and Colton Buffington capturing the Flight A Doubles title.
"I thought we played with a lot of passion and spirit today, which has been one of our goals this season and the team really rallied around each other and I think that helped with our on court performances," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "It is always exciting when you can win a draw at one of the fall tournaments, and it was definitely a great accomplishment for Ali and Colton to win their doubles bracket. I thought all of our doubles teams got better as the day went on - all of the teams drove in this morning so it was tough to get started, but we were able to warm up quickly and start playing at full speed."
Shabib and Buffington improved their fall doubles record to 6-1 after going 3-0 at the WMU Invite Friday afternoon. In the opening round the duo picked up an 8-4 win against Western Michigan and then earned an 8-4 victory over Notre Dame to advance to the championship match. In the finals, Shabib and Buffington once again earned an 8-4 win, this time over a duo from Michigan State, capturing their first title of the season.
The Vikings had two teams competing in the Flight B doubles bracket, with Nolan Marks/Mirko Radosevic and Joe VanMeter/Manuel Bellutti both posting 2-1 records on the day. Both teams picked up wins in their opening round matches (Marks/Radosevic, 8-5 and VanMeter/Bellutti, 8-4), before falling in the semifinals to drop into consolation play. Marks and Radosevic posted an 8-3 victory over a Green Bay duo in their consolation match, while VanMeter and Bellutti earned an 8-1 win over an Illinois State tandem.
Andre Mick and Jorg van der Vloet also went 2-1 on the day, playing in the round-robin Flight C, picking up both wins against teams from Valparaiso.
"As a team, we did fairly well today, we all started off slow, but by the end of the day we were playing some great tennis against some tough opponents," sophomore Andre Mick said. "Jorg and I had a successful day, I thought we returned really well and had strong first serves in all of our matches. Towards the end of the day our chemistry on the court was awesome, and I know that could be said for all of our doubles teams today."
Cleveland State will continue play at the Western Michigan Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 27), with two rounds of singles slated to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Western Michigan Invitational Results
Flight A Doubles:
Shabib/Buffington (CSU) def. Payne/Shideler (WMU), 8-4
Shabib/Buffington (CSU) def. Covalschi/ Frederika (ND), 8-4
Shabib/Buffington (CSU) def. Linders/Jadun (MSU), 8-4
Flight B Doubles:
Marks/Radosevic (CSU) def. Domiter/Greve (ISU), 8-5
Roy/Dube (MSU) def. Marks/Radosevic (CSU), 8-5
Marks/Radosevic (CSU) def. Soler/Merz (GB), 8-3
VanMeter/Bellutti (CSU) def. Hamilton/Dunn (VALPO), 8-4
Kecic/Beckwith (WMU) def. VanMeter/Bellutti (CSU), 8-6
VanMeter/Bellutti (CSU) def. Domiter/Greve (ISU), 8-1
Flight C Doubles:
Moe/Stefani (XU) def. Mick/van der Vloet (CSU), 8-6
Mick/van der Vloet (CSU) def. Gardner/Oakes (VALPO), 8-5
Mick/van der Vloet (CSU) def. Savaglio/Waak (VALPO), 8-3
Flight D Doubles:
Zade/Heeder (MSU) def. Goth (CSU)/Hickey (VALPO), 8-3
Bishop/Carman (XU) def. Goth (CSU)/Hickey (VALPO), 8-5
Goth (CSU)/Hickey (VALPO) def. Isaaks/Kraenzler (GB), 8-7 (3)
