TOLEDO, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team picked up its third straight win Friday afternoon, as the Vikings captured a 6-1 victory at Toledo to improve to 3-3 on the young season.
"This was a good match for us today, and I'm happy that we were able to pick up a good win against a tough MAC team in Toledo," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We are taking a lot of pride in getting the doubles point, and we were able to get the early advantage again today despite playing with an adjusted lineup. We were in some tight doubles matches today, and I thought we handled it well, which was great to see."
For the fifth straight match, the Vikings were able to pick up the early doubles point, as they earned a pair of tiebreak wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Playing with an adjusted lineup against the Rockets, Matthew Terry and Kade Mindry posted a 7-6(5) victory at the No. 2 spot, while Luke Phillips and Maxime Mareschal-Hay earned a 7-6(1) win at the No. 3 spot.
Cleveland State was able to quickly add to its lead at the start of singles play then, as Raul Teichmann posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the No. 5 spot to gain a 2-0 lead over Toledo.
The Vikings then gained a 3-0 advantage with a win from Mareschal-Hay, as he improved to 4-2 on his rookie season with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles.
Cleveland State's clinching point came from Clark Bilinovich at No. 4 singles then, as he battled for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 three-set victory to give the Vikings their third win of the season.
The Vikings were then able to add to their lead with wins at the top two spots, as Terry earned a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles and Phillips earned a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win at the No. 2 spot.
With his win at No. 2 singles against the Rockets, Phillips improved to a team-best 5-1 on the year, and is now just two wins shy of earning a spot on the CSU Singles Wins List.
Terry, who was playing at the top of the lineup for the third straight match, earned his 79th career victory on Friday, and is just one win shy of moving into a tie for seventh place on the CSU Singles Wins List.
"We battled really well in singles today, and even though we got off to a slow start in a couple spots, that didn't stop the fight from the guys to come back in some of those three-set matches and pick up the wins. Looking at where we are now, compared to the beginning of the season, we are definitely making improvements and playing at a higher level which is encouraging as the season continues," Etzkin said.
The Vikings will look to continue their winstreak on the road next weekend, as they are set to travel to Western Michigan on Friday, March 5.
