Men's Tennis Plays Three Matches This Weekend

Posted: Mar 26, 2010

March 26, 2010

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's tennis squad has a busy week on tap, playing three matches during a three day stretch over the weekend, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Youngstown State on Friday (March 26) at River Oaks Racquet Club in the Horizon League opener for both teams.

CSU will also host Green Bay at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (March 27) before heading to fourth-ranked Ohio State for a 6:00 p.m. match on Sunday (March 28).

The match against OSU will be played at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center.

"This is going to be a very busy week for us and we are going to have to remained focused during each point," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We want to come out strong to start the league schedule and put ourselves in good position in the league standings. Sunday's match at Ohio State is going to go a long way in showing how much we have grown as a team."

The Vikings enter the week with a 9-5 overall record after going 1-3 on their Spring Break trip through Florida last week.

CSU opened the trip with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against Florida Atlantic. After losing the doubles point, the Vikings came back winning at No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 singles to earn the win.

"The win over Florida Atlantc was a great team win," Etzkin said. "We were down and things looked bleaked, but everyone kept battling and fought for every point. Those are the types of matches that build the character of the team."

The win was extra special for Etzkin and his squad as it vaulted the Vikings into the national rankings for the first time in program history as the Vikings checked in at 75th in the ITA national rankings.

"It was exciting to learn that we earned that ranking because the players in this program have worked hard to get to this point," Etzkin said. "It is a tribute to the players who came into this program and helped build it up. We know that getting a ranking like this won't help us win a league title or get back to the NCAA tournament and we are going to have to continue to work hard to maintain this position."

CSU dropped its final three matches in Florida, falling to Indiana, at Stetson and at Embry Riddle by identical 6-1 scores.

Phil Orno and Yannick Goossens both won two singles matches on the trip, while the No. 1 doubles team of Orno and Ryan Hamning also picked up two wins.

The duo continues to lead CSU's doubles attack, going 17-6 this season. In addition, Orno leads the team with 21 singles victories and has reached the 20-win mark for the fourth straight season. He has 91 career singles wins.

Following the three matches this weekend, CSU is back in action for two league road matches next weekend, beginning with a 3:00 p.m. match at Valparaiso on April 3. The Vikings then head to UIC for a 3:00 p.m. contest against the Flames on April 4.