KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team continued play at the Western Michigan Invitational Saturday playing two rounds of singles, with Manuel Bellutti advancing to the finals of the Flight E Singles bracket.
"I thought we had a pretty good day today, the highlight definitely being that Manuel earned a spot in the finals of his singles flight after playing some of his best tennis of the season," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I was pleased with our play in the other singles wins that we picked up, and even our losses came in close matches – and if we keep improving and working hard at practice we can turn some of those close matches around. Everyone seems to be improving from day-to-day and tournament-to-tournament, and tomorrow's goal is to finish the day with a winning record. If we continue playing like we have been the past two days, that is a great possibility."
Bellutti was the lone Viking to go 2-0 on the day, picking up wins over opponents from Valparaiso and Illinois State. In his opening round match, Bellutti posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lukas Waak of Valparaiso, and then followed that up with a 7-5, 6-2 win against Illinois State's Dylan Steffens. Bellutti will now face Michigan State's Michael Dube in the championship match tomorrow morning.
Cleveland State also had three players earn a spot in the consolation finals in their respective flights – Joe VanMeter, Colton Buffington, and Andre Mick. All three players dropped their opening round matches, but then won their first contest in the backdraw to advance to the consolation finals.
VanMeter, who is playing in Flight B, picked up his victory over Cristoffer Greve of Illinois State in a 6-4, 6-4 decision, while Buffington picked up a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory over Valparaiso's Kyle Dunn in Flight D. Mick's victory came in Flight G action, as he posted a 6-0, 6-2 win over Paul Heeder of Michigan State.
Kevin Goth and Nolan Marks went 1-1 on the day, both picking up wins in their opening round matches. Goth picked up a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 victory over Brian Hickey of Valparaiso in Flight F action, while Marks earned a 6-2, 7-5 win over Valparaiso's Daniel Oakes in the Flight G bracket.
The final round of singles at the Western Michigan Invitational will begin at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday, Sept. 28).
Western Michigan Invitational Results:
Flight A Singles
Jefta Kecic (WMU) def. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Flight B Singles
Jeremy Schneider (XU) def. Mirko Radosevic (CSU), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
Billy Pecor (ND) def. Mirko Radosevic (CSU), 6-1, 6-1
Harry Jadun (MSU) def. Joe VanMeter (CSU), 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
Joe VanMeter (CSU) def. Cristoffer Greve (ISU), 6-4, 6-4
Flight C Singles
Michael Savaglio (VALPO) def. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2
Matt Bishop (XU) def. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-0
Flight D Singles
Jasper Koenen (MSU) def. Colton Buffington (CSU), 7-6 (3), 6-2
Colton Buffington (CSU) def. Kyle Dunn (VALPO), 7-6 (6), 6-3
Flight E Singles
Manuel Bellutti (CSU) def. Lukas Waak (VALPO), 6-1, 6-2
Manuel Bellutti (CSU) def. Dylan Steffens (ISU), 7-5, 6-2
Flight F Singles
Kevin Goth (CSU) def. Brian Hickey (VALPO), 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4
Michael Tebon (GB) def. Kevin Goth (CSU), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-0
Flight G Singles
Nolan Marks (CSU) def. Daniel Oakes (VALPO), 6-2, 7-5
Florian Kraenzler (GB) def. Nolan Marks (CSU), 7-6 (6), 6-4
Freddy Abunku (XU) def. Andre Mick (CSU), 6-4, 7-5
Andre Mick (CSU) def. Paul Heeder (MSU), 6-0, 6-2
