INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the fourth straight year, the Cleveland State men's tennis team has been selected to win the Horizon League Championships in the annual #HLMTEN Preseason Poll. The poll, which is voted on by the league's head coaches, was announced Friday afternoon.
This marks the ninth year that the Horizon League has released a Preseason Tennis Poll, with Cleveland State favored to win for the fourth time. It also marks the eighth time out of nine preseason polls that the Vikings were tabbed as a top-two selection.
Cleveland State entered the 2021 campaign as the two-time reigning Horizon League Champions, after winning the title in 2018 and 2019. Last season, the Vikings were poised to make another run at the tournament title before the 2020 campaign was cut short.
The Vikings return six letterwinners from the 2019 Championship team, including two-time Horizon League Player of the Year Nico Mostardi and All-League honorees Matthew Terry and Luke Phillips.
After the first seven weeks of the 2021 campaign, Mostardi (4th – 85 wins) and Terry (8th – 79 wins) continue to move up the CSU Singles Wins List, while Phillips (69 wins) is just shy of earning a spot on the top-10 list.
The Vikings are under the direction of head coach Brian Etzkin for the 2021 campaign, who is in his 19th year on the Cleveland State sidelines owning a 256-182 career dual match record. Throughout his tenure, Etzkin has guided the Vikings to seven Horizon League Tournament titles – the second most titles by a single school in Horizon League history.
Etzkin and the Vikings are slated to begin Horizon League play at UIC on Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28.
2021 Horizon League Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Cleveland State, 25 (5)
2. Youngstown State, 19
T3. IUPUI, 12
T3. Northern Kentucky, 12
5. UIC, 7
