CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team recorded its third straight win Saturday, picking up a 5-2 victory over Xavier.
"This was another great college tennis match between Cleveland State and Xavier, and I feel like every time we play them it's always a match that could go either way, with both teams battling hard until the end," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I'm so proud of this team, and how much improvement they have made since the beginning of the season, as they continue to work hard every single week and I can't wait to see what is ahead for us."
For the eighth time this season the Vikings were able to earn the early 1-0 advantage, picking up wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots to earn the doubles point.
At the top of the lineup, Luke Phillips and Nico Mostardi posted a 6-1 win for their team-leading fourth doubles win of the year, while Matthew Terry and Maxime Mareschal-Hay earned a 6-3 victory at No. 2 doubles.
"We played some of our best doubles of the year today, we had early breaks on all of the courts, and the energy was at a high level. I thought our doubles discipline was really sharp today, and as always, we definitely feed off of getting the early point in matches," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State was able to quickly add to its lead at the start of singles play then, as Mareschal-Hay picked up his team-best seventh singles win of the season with a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Xavier's Matthew Graft.
Xavier was able to even the match score with a pair of wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, but Cleveland State picked up wins on the final three courts to clinch the 5-2 victory.
Cleveland State earned a 3-2 advantage following a win at the No. 2 spot, as Phillips posted a 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) victory over Srdan Pejic, to earn a spot on the CSU Singles Wins List. With his win, Phillips is now tied for 10th with 71 career singles victories as the third active Viking to be ranked on the top-10 list.
The Vikings' clinching point came from Terry at the top of the lineup then, as he earned a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 victory over Xavier's Brett Winters. Terry now has 82 career singles wins, and is tied for fifth on the CSU Singles Wins List.
Cleveland State's final point came from Clark Bilinovich at No. 4 singles, as he earned a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Cambell Nakayama for his fourth singles win of the year.
"In singles, we were definitely able to keep the momentum on our side after picking up six first sets, and then Max added to that energy by getting us another point with a quick two-set win on his court. Luke did a great job of not giving up throughout his match, and stayed offensive to give himself a chance to win. Matt had another solid match at the top of the lineup for us today, and Clark was able to add another point on the board, giving us some great momentum heading into tomorrow's weekend finale," Etzkin said.
The Vikings will wrap up the two-match series against Xavier tomorrow (Sunday, March 21), with first serve set for 12:00 p.m.
