INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team wrapped up its 2021 regular season Sunday, capping off a perfect 8-0 Horizon League slate with a 5-2 victory at IUPUI.
With Sunday's win, the Vikings posted their second straight undefeated #HLTennis regular season slate, and have now won 18 straight regular season league matches dating back to the 2017-18 season.
After dropping the doubles point for the first time since early March in yesterday's match, the Vikings responded by picking up their 17th doubles point of the year in Sunday's weekend finale. Cleveland State got wins at the top two spots, jumping out to the early 1-0 advantage.
"We were able to flip the doubles point today, which was one of our goals, and it was great to get that point in hand heading into singles play," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I felt like in doubles – and even in singles to an extent – there were a lot of things that could have been excuses for us, but we didn't let anything affect us, and we did a great job of competing and finishing the task at hand."
At No. 1 doubles, Nico Mostardi and Luke Phillips earned a 7-6(2) win, while Matthew Terry and Maxime Mareschal-Hay posted a 6-3 victory at the No. 2 spot. With their win at No. 1 doubles, Mostardi and Phillips moved into a tie for fifth place on the CSU Team Doubles Wins List with 25 victories as a tandem – one of just six CSU doubles teams all-time to reach 25 victories.
Kade Mindry picked up the Vikings' first singles win of the day, earning a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles to put the Vikings up 2-0 at the start of singles play. This marked Mindry's third straight win after returning to the lineup following an injury earlier this month, as he finished the regular season with a 3-0 league record.
After IUPUI was able to pick up a win at No. 6 singles, Cleveland State gained a 3-1 lead with a win at the No. 3 spot, as Phillips picked up a 7-5, 6-2 win for the 80th singles win of his career. Phillips now owns a team-best 16-3 overall record this season, and is one of nine Vikings all-time with 80+ career wins.
"As has been the usual this season, we were playing with an adjusted singles lineup and the team did another great job of responding and putting points on the board to get the win. Matt, Luke and Kade had an infectious energy on their set of courts today, which helped Kade get a quick point on the board for us. Luke continued his strong play today, giving us our third point, while Matt clinched the match for us doing something that not many, if any, people have done in this league – which is beat every team's #1 and #2 players in the same season," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State's clinching point came at the top of the lineup then, as Terry earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory to give the Vikings a 16-4 record on the season and extend their win streak to 13 straight matches. With Sunday's win, Terry now stands at 14-4 overall this season, while he has 91 career victories.
Phillips and Terry both finished regular season play with perfect 8-0 records against league opponents.
Although the Jaguars were able to put another point on the board at No. 4 singles, Cleveland State responded by picking up the final singles win of the day, as Mareschal-Hay posted a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 2 spot. With the win, Mareschal-Hay is now tied for the team-lead with 16 singles wins this season, while he finished league play with a 7-1 record.
"I watched Max mature right in front of my eyes today, as he was a bit distracted in the first set, but he was able to narrow his focus in the second set and became a different player throughout the end of his match, putting another point on the board for us. I'm so proud of everything this team has accomplished throughout the regular season, but we aren't don't yet, and we are looking forward to continuing this momentum in the Horizon League Tournament next weekend," Etzkin said.
Next up for the Vikings will be the 2021 Horizon League Tournament, with Cleveland State entering play as the No. 1 seed. Semifinals are slated for Saturday, May 1, with the Championship Match set for Sunday, May 2.
