March 15, 2012
Contact: Renee Adam
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Cleveland State men's tennis team wrapped up their Spring Training Trip Thursday afternoon, as they fell at Embry-Riddle, 7-0. With the loss the Vikings fall to 5-8 on the season, while the Eagles improve to 10-1.
"Today we just didn't compete as well as Embry-Riddle, especially from the start," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We were able to find ways to get ourselves back into matches, but we need to focus on doing better from the start if we are going to have a successful season in the Horizon League. Embry-Riddle is a very good team and they deserved to get this win today."
Embry-Riddle, who ranks second in the NAIA standings, has three singles players ranked in the NAIA top-15 while all three of the doubles tandems rank in the top-25. The No. 1 doubles team of Patrick Besch and Adrian Bayh lead the NAIA standings and the No. 1 singles player for the Eagles, Chris Freeman, leads the singles standings.
The duo of Matt Ford and Yannick Goossens picked up Cleveland State's lone victory against Embry-Riddle, claiming a come-from-behind 9-7 win at No. 2 doubles.
Matt Kuelker and Jorg Van Der Vloet posted strong singles performances Thursday afternoon for Cleveland State, as they both gave the Eagles all they could handle in their respective singles positions. After dropping his first set, 6-0, Kuelker battled back to gain a 6-5 advantage during the second set, but Embry-Riddle's Besch was able to claim a 7-6 (7-2) decision during the final set for the No. 2 singles victory. van der Vloet pushed Peter Francis to the limit at No. 5 singles, as he dropped a 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) decision against the Eagles.
"All three of our matches during this Florida trip have been good preparation for us for the upcoming league schedule," Etzkin said. "The tough matches that we have played during the early part of the season will pay off for us down the road and hopefully we will be able to be at the top of the Horizon League standings."
The Vikings will now turn their attention to the Horizon League, as they open league play with a 7:00 p.m. match at Detroit on Friday, March 23.
Embry-Riddle 7, Cleveland State 0
Doubles:
1. Besch/Bayh (ERU) def. Shabib/Marks (CSU), 8-2
2. Goossens/Ford (CSU) def. Freeman/Leonik (ERU), 9-7
3. Francis/Felix (ERU) def. Kuelker/van der Vloet (CSU), 8-6
Singles:
1. FREEMAN, Chris (ERU) def. Goossens, Yannick (CSU) 6-1, 6-3
2. BESCH, Patrick (ERU) def. Kuelker, Matt (CSU) 6-0, 7-6
3. FELIX, Simon (ERU) def. Shabib, Ali (CSU) 6-0, 6-0
4. BAYH, Adrian (ERU) def. Marks, Nolan (CSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. FRANCIS, Peter (ERU) def. Van Der Vloet, Jorg (CSU) 6-4, 7-6
6. SPENNARE, David (ERU) def. Ford, Matt (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
