CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team continued its Banquet Weekend magic Sunday afternoon, posting a 6-1 victory over UIC to close out the regular season. The win was CSU's third straight victory, and improves the Vikings to 16-7 overall this season and 4-2 against Horizon League opponents.

Cleveland State's victory over UIC also secured the Vikings the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament which will begin on Friday, April 24 in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Vikings got out to a 1-0 lead after doubles action, picking up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Manuel Bellutti and Mirko Radosevic were able to post a 6-4 victory at the No. 2 spot, while Joe VanMeter and Jorg van der Vloet earned a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles.

"We were able to get off to a good start today, picking up the doubles point at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. We usually depend on our top doubles team to get us a win, and it's nice to know that we can also win at the other spots," Etzkin said. "We were then able to continue this strong play into singles action, with the bottom of our lineup getting some lockdown wins to give us an early lead which we were able to capitalize on."

Cleveland State then extended its lead to 3-0 with two quick victories at the bottom of the singles lineup, with Colton Buffington earning a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles and Radosevic capturing a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles. Buffington has now won three straight singles matches and stands at 12-10 this spring, while Radosevic has a matching 12-10 mark during dual matches.

Ali Shabib clinched the match for the Vikings, posting a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles for his 18^th win of the season. Shabib owns a 14-8 record this spring, and finished with a team-best 5-1 record against Horizon League opponents.

Cleveland State's final two points came from VanMeter at No. 1 singles and van der Vloet at the No. 3 spot. VanMeter earned a 7-5, 7-5 win at the top of the lineup, improving his overall record to 22-13 this season. van der Vloet tallied a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory, improving to 17-15 this season, and becoming the eighth Viking to notch 60 career singles wins.

"Ali had a great comeback win for us today, while Joe played a solid No. 1 singles match for us to solidify our win. Jorg went down 6-0, 3-0 today, before winning 12 out of his last 14 games, really showing his focus and determination to pull out the win. Credit to Jorg for making adjustments throughout his match and picking up the victory," Etzkin said. "Overall this was a good win for the team - coming into the weekend we knew we controlled our own destiny in the upcoming tournament and it's nice to see us take advantage of that."

UIC's lone point of the day came at No. 3 singles.

Cleveland State will now prepare for the 2015 Horizon League Tournament beginning with a first round contest against sixth-seeded Detroit at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 24.

Cleveland State 6, UIC 1

Doubles:

1. Shabib/Marks (CSU) vs. Lloveras/Hedstrom (UIC), 5-5, unf
2. Bellutti/Radosevic (CSU) def. Feoli/Pontow (UIC), 6-4
3. VanMeter/van der Vloet (CSU) def. Cole/Granger (UIC), 6-3

Singles:

1. Joe VanMeter (CSU) def. Isaac Lloveras (UIC), 7-5, 7-5
2. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU) def. Christopher Cole (UIC), 0-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Carl Hedstrom (UIC) def. Manuel Bellutti (CSU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Ali Shabib (CSU) def. Mitch Granger (UIC), 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Colton Buffington (CSU) def. Maurizio Feoli (UIC), 6-0, 6-3
6. Mirko Radosevic (CSU) def. Max Cederkall (UIC), 6-1, 6-3

Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2) – Singles (5, 6, 4, 1, 3, 2)