Jan. 30, 2005

Rocky River, Ohio - After getting down 3-0 to St. Bonaventure, the Cleveland State men's team grinded out four straight wins to take a 4-3 victory at the River Oaks Racquet Club on Sunday (Jan. 30). Senior Jordan Reynolds claimed a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 nail-biter at No. 6 singles to clinch the win for the Vikings.

Reynolds jumped out for a 6-1 win in the first set, but dropped the next set, 2-6, to force the deciding third. Down 5-1 in the third set, he gutted out six straight games to claim the set, match and the victory for the Vikings.

Reynolds found himself in a similar situation last weekend at Xavier. With the team score tied at 3-3, the North Olmsted, Ohio native dropped a close fought match to end the competition in the Musketeers' favor.

"[The Xavier match] was in the front of my mind the whole time," Reynolds said. "I just kept telling myself that it was now or never. I got the support of my teammates and my coach behind me and it really helped."

St. Bonaventure, having competed in the NCAA Tournament in three of the last five seasons, posed a tough opponent from the get go. Cleveland State found themselves in a 3-0 hole early on after dropping the doubles point and their first two singles matches.

Sophomore Dan Singer, however, got things rolling in the Vikings' favor, winning the No. 5 singles match in three before senior No. 2 Eric Winn claimed a three-set victory. Junior No. 4 Jay Tee added a three set victory of his own to set up Reynolds with the deciding match.

"After the doubles matches, we realized that this was going to be a real tight match," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We got down early, but everyone kept their composure and we just started to close out matches, one at a time.

"It was like a Davis Cup match out there for Jordan [Reynolds]. It was great to see the home crowd get behind him like that."

The men's team heads to Dayton on Feb. 8 for a battle with the Flyers beginning at 12:00 p.m.

Final Results - Cleveland State 4, St. Bonaventure 3

Singles
1. Mario Arce (SBU) def. Brad Groleski (CSU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Eric Winn (CSU) def. Nikhil Murali (SBU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
3. Alejandro Nery (SBU) def. Paul Haley (CSU), 7-6 (6), 6-4
4. Jay Tee (CSU) def. Dejan Stankovic (SBU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
5. Dan Singer (CSU) def. Andrew Hart (SBU), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1
6. Jordan Reynolds (CSU) def. Sajeel Qureshi (SBU), 6-1, 2-6, 7-5

Doubles
1. Arce/Murali (SBU) def. Winn/Haley (CSU), 8-3
2. Hart/Stankovic (SBU) def. Groleski/Singer (CSU), 8-5
3. Tee/Aronson (CSU) def. Nery/Qureshi (SBU), 8-6

Exhibition
Mike Durr (CSU) def. Steven Steenland (SBU), 8-3