April 20, 2006

Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State men's tennis team finished its regular season in style with a 7-0 shutout of John Carroll Thursday evening, improving to 11-12 for the year.

The men swept the doubles point to secure the early 1-0 lead. At 10-5 on the season, the No. 2 duo of Rob West and Dan Singer finished first with an 8-1 victory over the Blue Streaks. Jay Tee and Olivier Dhaine followed at the No. 1 spot with an 8-0 shutout of Eliot Brown and Jason Leavitt. They are 10-6 for the year. Steven Wipprecht and Brad Groleski rounded things out at No. 3 doubles, downing Jeff Copp and Jacob Borth 8-2 and combining for a 9-6 record.

"Our doubles play today was excellent," said coach Brian Etzkin. "We crossed well and put volleys away."

In singles action the Vikings continued to dominate, sweeping all six matches. No. 1 Dhaine and No. 2 Tee won the closest matches of the day, 6-4, 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (0), 6-4, respectively. Dhaine closes out the regular season with a 12-6 record while Tee finishes 13-18.

On a four-match winning streak, No. 3 Brad Groleski downed Leavitt 6-1, 6-0. At No. 4 singles West knocked off Campanell 6-0, 6-1 and No. 5 Singer downed Ceglia 6-0, 6-1. Wipprecht continued to dominate the No. 6 position, topping Borth 6-0, 6-4 and improving to 18-12 on the year.

"John Carroll really pushed us," said Etzkin. "They made us hit a lot of balls which was great preparation for the conference tournament. It was just what we needed and I think we're ready."

In exhibition play Alex Livingstone downed Pete Capozziello 9-7 and Jason Lape defeated Chris Masci 8-5.

Both the men and women travel to Indianapolis, Ind. this weekend (April 22-23) for the Horizon League Championships. Both teams will battle Wright State in the first round.

Doubles:
No. 1 Dhaine/Tee def. Brown/Leavitt 8-0
No. 2 West/Singer def. Campanielli/Steward 8-1
No. 3 Wipprecht/Groleski def. Copp/Borth 8-2

Singles: No. 1 Olivier Dhaine def. Steward 6-4, 7-6 (2)
No. 2 Jay Tee def. Eliot Brown 7-6 (0), 6-4
No. 3 Brad Groleski def. Jason Leavitt 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 Rob West def. Alex Campanelli 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 Dan Singer def. David Ceglia 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 Steven Wipprecht def. Jacob Borth 6-0, 6-4
Ex. Alex Livingstone def. Pete Capozziello 9-7
Ex. Jason Lape def. Chris Masci 8-5