May 10, 2008
Contact: Jessica Gerich
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's tennis team concluded its historic season in the first round at the NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon, falling to second ranked Ohio State, 4-0.
CSU finished the season 18-6, tying the 2006-07 and 1989 teams for the most wins in program history.
Ohio State came out on top in doubles, winning at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Freshman Robert Fox and junior Rob West fell 8-5 to fourteenth ranked duo of Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge. Senior Brad Groleski and freshman Chris Klepatz dropped their No. 3 match against Matt Allare and Shuhei Uzawa, falling 8-4.
Sophomore All-League first team duo of Phil Orno and Ryan Hamning did not finish their match against tenth ranked team of Steven Moneke and Bryan Koniecko. The match was 6-4
Ohio State kept the momentum in singles play, winning the next three matches in succession to clinch the victory. Hamning fell 6-0, 6-1 to No. 32 Steven Moneke at No. 2 singles. Groleski dropped his No. 3 singles match against No. 19 Justin Kronauge, falling 6-0, 6-1.
Orno, Horizon League Player of the Year, played a close match at No. 1 singles against No. 16 Koniecko, with the match at 6-4, 2-1 with the Koniecko edge before the match was ended.
Klepatz's No. 4 singles match against Eberly was 6-1, 3-2 with Ohio State leading before the match was halted. West was down 6-1, 5-0 at No. 6 singles against Balazs Novak.
"We competed well against Ohio State but we just didn't get off to a quick start like we wanted to," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Phil was playing a great match at No. 1, we just couldn't string together enough games. Looking back at the season, it was a monumental year. We are proud of our accomplishments and are looking forward to get to the tournament again next year with better results."
Ohio State will move on to the second round, playing the winner of today's East Tennessee State and Notre Dame match on Sunday, May 11.
The Vikings return eight next year, losing the lone senior on the squad, Brad Groleski.
