April 18, 2010
Contact: Brian McCann
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's tennis team concluded the regular season with a 4-3 win over Buffalo at River Oaks Racquet Club on Sunday afternoon.
CSU concludes the regular season with an 18-6 overall record and capped a perfect Horizon League season at 7-0 with a win at Detroit yesterday.
The Vikings, who have won the last two Horizon League Championships, will be the No. 1 seed in the league tournament in Indianapolis, Ind., this weekend and will open play with a semifinal match on Saturday (April 24) against the winner of a first round match from Friday.
"I thought we made a big statement today against the best team in the MAC," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "This was a good match for us to see where we stack against some of the elite mid-major teams in the region and I thought our guys came out and stepped up to the challenge. Everyone contributed to this win today and we will need that kind of effort at the league tournament next weekend."
CSU won the doubles point by winning two of the three matches, including an 8-2 victory at No. 3 by Yannick Goossens and Chirs Klepatz.
"Getting that quick win was nice because it really put a lot of pressure on Buffalo, knowing that they had to win the final two doubles matches to get the point," Etzkin said. "And it allowed our other two teams to play more relaxed.
"For as bad as our doubles play was last week, I was happy with the way we played today and this weekend. We got back to our aggressive ways, had good court positioning and the players fed off each other."
The No. 2 team of Rob Fox and John Haley won, 8-6.
Haley picked up a 6-1, 7-6 win at No. 6 singles to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead, but the Bulls came back with two wins to even the contest at 2-2.
However, Fox earned a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 4 singles and Gosseens closed out the match with a 7-6, 7-5 win at No. 2 singles.
"Goose played one of his best matches since arriving at Cleveland State," Etzkin said. "Buffalo is a very loud team, but he stayed focused and aggressive the entire match. He went all out and didn't hold back at all. That's they kind of tennis we need him to play."
Goossens' win allowed him to remain undefeated in singles matches at River Oaks over the last two seasons.
Cleveland State 4, Buffalo 3
Apr 18, 2010 at Rocky River, Ohio (River Oaks Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. STARAKIEWICZ, Wojcie (BUFF) def. Orno, Phil (CSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
2. Goossens, Yannick (CSU) def. MARCELO, Mazzetto (BUFF) 7-6, 7-5
3. KOLOMYTS, Kirill (BUFF) def. Hamning, Ryan (CSU) 6-3, 6-4
4. FOX, Rob (CSU) def. TIBIL, George (BUFF) 6-2, 7-5
5. HOVE, Vusa (BUFF) def. Klepatz, Chris (CSU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
6. Haley, John (CSU) def. KALININ, Alex (BUFF) 6-1, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. ORNO, Phil/HAMNING, Ryan (CSU) def. KOLOMYTS, Kirill/MARCELO, Mazzetto (BUFF) 8-6
2. STARAKIEWICZ, Wojcie/TIBIL, George (BUFF) def. FOX, Rob/HALEY, John (CSU) 8-6
3. GOOSSENS, Yannick/KLEPATZ, Chris (CSU) def. HOVE, Vusa/KALININ, Alex (BUFF) 8-2
