VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team opened up the 2015-16 season at the Valpo Fall Invitational Friday, posting a strong day of singles play at the two-day tournament.
"Overall I thought we had a good showing today for the first tournament of the season, including a solid first round of singles play," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Congratulations goes out to Benjamin Slade who picked up his first collegiate singles and doubles wins today, and looked really good in all of his matches. I think we will be tested in the next two rounds of singles play tomorrow against some tougher competition, and I am excited to see if we can step it up again tomorrow and win some draws."
The Vikings went 4-2 during the first round of singles play Friday, picking up wins in the B, C, and E Flights.
Freshman Benjamin Slade picked up his first collegiate singles win in the B Singles bracket, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Eastern Illinois' Ryan Henderson. Andre Mick and Kevin Goth both posted their singles wins in the C Flight – Mick with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Eastern Illinois' Ognjen Jevtic and Goth with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Gabriel Niculescu from Chicago State.
The final singles win came from Mirko Radosevic in the E Singles bracket, as he posted an easy 6-1, 6-0 win over Jake Wendell from Eastern Illinois.
In doubles action, Joe VanMeter and Slade advanced to the championship match of the B Doubles consolation bracket after dropping their first match against a Butler duo and then picking up an 8-1 victory against Rohan Wattley and Rashley Yeremia of Chicago State. VanMeter and Slade will now play in the final match of the B Doubles backdraw tomorrow morning.
The Cleveland State duo of Mick and Radosevic also went 1-1 on the day in the B Doubles bracket, picking up an 8-4 win against Jared Woodson and Jacob Wendell of Eastern Illinois before falling to a duo from DePaul.
"I thought we left some doubles matches on the table today, but overall the effort was good throughout the day. We have some things to work on in doubles, but I definitely think we have the potential to be a good doubles team this season. It is always exciting to see the team play doubles competitively for the first time in the season, and this year was no different," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State will conclude play at the Valpo Fall Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, September 19), with one round of doubles and two rounds of singles beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST.
Valpo Fall Invitational Day 1 Results
A Doubles
Schorsch/Emhardt (Valpo) def. Goth/Malm (CSU), 8-2
Muresan/Noboa (CHST) def. Goth/Malm (CSU), 8-4
B Doubles
Mick/Radosevic (CSU) def. Woodson/Wendell (EIU), 8-4
O'Meara/Galoustian (DEP) def. Mick/Radosevic (CSU), 8-4
Dragos/Gerstein (BU) def. VanMeter/Slade (CSU), 8-7 (0)
VanMeter/Slade (CSU) def. Wattley/Yeremia (CHST), 8-1
A Singles
Sten Leusink (DEP) def. Joe VanMeter (CSU), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
B Singles
Benjamin Slade (CSU) def. Ryan Henderson (EIU), 6-0, 6-1
C Singles
Andre Mick (CSU) def. Ognjen Jevtic (EIU), 6-4, 6-1
Kevin Goth (CSU) def. Gabriel Niculescu (CHST), 6-3, 6-1
D Singles
Jan Willem Feilzer (DEP) def. William Malm (CSU), 6-4, 7-6 (9)
E Singles
Mirko Radosevic (CSU) def. Jake Wendell (EIU), 6-1, 6-0
