SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team opened play at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational Friday, picking up four singles wins and a doubles victory.
"I thought we had a good day today, and for the first full tournament of the fall I am cautiously optimistic with where this team is at right now," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Overall, we played really well in singles today, we either won the match or had a great chance to win late on every court."
Friday's singles wins came from Maxime Mareschal-Hay, Kade Mindry, JuandeDios Abboud, and Clark Bilinovich – with Marsechal-Hay posting his second singles win of the season after beginning the year at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic last weekend.
Bilinovich's win marked the 49th singles win of his career, as he is now just one win shy of becoming the 17thViking all-time to reach the 50-win milestone.
"In singles, Max and Kade stood out with their matches, as they both played really well against a pair of quality opponents. They knew who they were on the court, and they were in control during the majority of the match," Etzkin said.
Cleveland State's lone doubles win on the first day of action came from JuandeDios Abboud and Austin Staiger, as they earned an 8-4 victory over a Marquette duo.
"In doubles, I thought Austin and Juan played the best match of the day for us. They moved well as a team, communicated well and had some very good positioning throughout their match," Etzkin said.
In addition, redshirt-senior transfer Hugo Chatras picked up his first Division I win Friday, as he teamed up with DePaul's Sven Moser to earn an 8-4 doubles victory against a Marquette tandem.
Action at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational will continue tomorrow (Saturday, September 25), with two rounds of singles matches scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m.
Friday Singles Results
Maxime Mareschal-Hay (CSU) def. Saiprakash Goli (NU), 7-6(8), 6-2
Nic Meister (ILL) def. Mikael Erler (CSU), 6-2, 6-7(4), 1-0(9)
Kade Mindry (CSU) def. Jarreau Campbell (MSU), 6-1, 6-3
JuandeDios Abboud (CSU) def. Eli Zifferblatt (MAR), 6-3, 6-4
Will Tennison (MAR) def. Hugo Chatras (CSU), 6-4, 6-4
Clark Bilinovich (CSU) def. Lars Minsaas (DEP), 6-1, 7-5
Pablo Dale (MAR) def. Austin Staiger (CSU), 7-6(6), 4-6, 1-0(11)
Friday Doubles Results
Sheetz/Brady (MAR) def. Mareschal-Hay/Erler (CSU), 8-5
Campbell/Mukherjee (MSU) def. Mindry/Bilinovich (CSU), 8-4
Abboud/Staiger (CSU) def. Khalafallah/Tennison (MAR), 8-4
