Feb. 3, 2006

Niagara Falls, N.Y. - The Viking men's tennis team put up one of its gutsiest showings of the spring on Friday (Feb. 3) night, battling Niagara to a 3-3 tie and a chance to claim victory with a win at No. 3 singles, but the Purple Eagles would triumph in the deciding three-set bout for the 4-3 decision.

Senior Jay Tee battled back after dropping the first set to tie the deciding match with a 6-4 second-set win over Alexander Abji. The two battled back and forth to a 4-4 third set tie, but Abji held on for the final two games to give the Purple Eagles the win.

"If the game point were to fall on Jay's shoulders again tomorrow, I know he would come through with a win," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "This match could have gone either way. They just got the points they needed to win."

Niagara put the Vikings down early after claiming two of three matches for the doubles point. Olivier Dhaine would respond for CSU, however, registering a quick 6-3, 6-0 decision at No. 2 singles to tie the score at 1-1.

The Eagles reclaimed the advantage twice more, but the Vikings responded in kind with wins at No. 5 by Dan Singer and No. 6 by Steven Wipprecht, tying the score at 3-3 to set up the deciding match.

"This showing tonight is real promising because there is definite improvement over our last few matches," Etzkin continued. "We are still gelling as a team, with three new players and guys coming back from injuries, but I feel like we are getting better.

"We haven't quite gotten on track with our doubles play yet, but we are getting closer. Niagara got their revenge on us this year."

CSU had won in their previous two meetings with Niagara, recording 4-3 wins in both matches, including wins for each of the doubles points.

Cleveland State is back in action again tomorrow (Feb. 4) morning as they battle St. Bonaventure beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Olean, N.Y.

Niagara 4, Cleveland State 3

Doubles
No. 1 - McConkey/Dickinson (NU) def. West/Tee (CSU), 9-7
No. 2 - Garcia/Abji (NU) def. Groleski/Singer (CSU), 8-4
No. 3 - Dhaine/ Wipprecht (CSU) def. Peare/Kopf (NU), 8-5

Sinlges
No. 1 - Walter Garcia (NU) def. Rob West (CSU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 - Olivier Dhaine (CSU) def. Marc Dickinson, 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 - Alexander Abji (NU) def. Jay Tee (CSU), 6-2, 4-6 6-4
No. 4 - Justin McConkey (NU) def. Brad Groleski (CSU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 - Dan Singer (CSU) def. Dawson Peare (NU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 - Steven Wipprecht (CSU) def. Dave Rueter (NU), 6-2, 6-1

Ex. - Steve Kopf (NU) def. Alex Livingstone (CSU), 8-1