KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team dropped just their second match of the spring season Friday afternoon, dropping a hard fought 4-3 contest at Western Michigan.
"Overall we are playing pretty good tennis right now, we just need to get everyone playing at a high level on the same day," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We lost the doubles point today, and it ended up costing us in the end. We switched around the doubles teams today, and I thought the No. 1 team of Ali and Nolan looked good, and hopefully they can continue that."
The Vikings got down early after dropping the doubles point to the Broncos. Cleveland State's lone doubles victory came at the top of the lineup, as Ali Shabib and Nolan Marks picked up a 6-2 win in their first match together during the spring season.
Jorg van der Vloet was able to quickly even the score at 1-1 at the start of singles play then, posting a 6-0, 6-2 win against Ruben Greiner at No. 3 singles. The win improves van der Vloet to a perfect 6-0 in singles play this spring. The Broncos rebounded with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, putting the score at 3-1 with three matches left on the court.
The Vikings then picked up back-to-back wins at No. 6 and No. 5 singles, as Colton Buffington and Mirko Radosevic came away victorious. Radosevic notched his third straight win, earning a 6-4, 6-0 victory against Pablo Mora at No. 6 singles. Buffington earned his win in a 7-6 (5), 6-2 decision at the No. 5 spot against Jimmy Beckwith, knotting the score at 3-3 with one match left on the court.
"Jorg played awesome today, he was locked in during his match and has been playing at a high level throughout the spring season. Mirko played with a lot of energy and was definitely our emotional leader today, while Colton battled throughout his match to come away with the victory," Etzkin said.
The No. 4 singles match between Manuel Bellutti and Matt Hamilton was the final match to be completed Friday afternoon, as Western Michigan's Hamilton pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 three-set victory to give the Broncos the 4-3 match victory.
The Vikings will now stay in the state of Michigan, traveling to No. 46 Michigan for an 11:00 a.m. match tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 21).
Western Michigan 4, Cleveland State 3
Doubles:
- Shabib/Marks (CSU) def. Greiner/Steiner (WMU), 6-2
- Payne/Hamilton (WMU) def. Radosevic/Bellutti (CSU), 6-2
- Beckwith/Kecic (WMU) def. VanMeter/Buffington (CSU), 6-3
Singles:
- Maik Steiner (WMU) def. Joe VanMeter (CSU), 6-2, 6-0
- Jefta Kecic (WMU) def. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-2, 6-4
- Jorg van der Vloet (CSU) def. Ruben Greiner (WMU), 6-0, 6-2
- Matt Hamilton (WMU) def. Manuel Bellutti (CSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
- Colton Buffington (CSU) def. Jimmy Beckwith (WMU), 7-6 (5), 6-2
- Mirko Radosevic (CSU) def. Pablo Mora (WMU), 6-4, 6-0
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 3, 1, 2, 6, 5, 4
