ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The top-seeded Cleveland State women's tennis team advanced to the Championship Match of the Horizon League Tournament following a 4-1 victory over Detroit in their semifinal contest. The Vikings will be advancing to the championship match for the third time in program history.
To begin the match, CSU battled for a tightly contested doubles point, picking up an 8-4 victory at No. 1 doubles, and an 8-7 win at No. 2 doubles. Alex Power and Ellen Folkers controlled their No. 1 doubles match from start to finish, while Kara Sherwood and Mathilde Orange had to earn their victory the hard way. After holding a lead through the majority of the match, Sherwood and Orange let their Detroit opponents back in the match, but were able to control play throughout the tiebreaker.
"The doubles point was huge for us, I think even bigger than it seemed at the end of the match. After picking up the doubles point, we were able to play with confidence and had a lot of momentum going into singles play," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Our No. 1 doubles team played great once again, and our No. 2 doubles team was able to play from ahead for most of their match, and closed out the tight spots in the end. On all of the doubles courts the partners were helping each other out and really lifting each other when we needed it. The doubles point was a point that we didn't get when we played Detroit in the regular season, so it felt good going into singles with the advantage."
With a 1-0 lead heading into singles play, the Vikings were able to carry their momentum through all six singles courts, getting out to an early lead on almost all courts.
"We then had a huge lift from Kara, Lauren and Victoria, who all got out to quick leads in their first sets. Mathilde and Princess kept that momentum going, both of them picking up first set tiebreak victories. Even though those two didn't get to finish their matches, they really gave us a lot of energy on the other courts that we capitalized on," Etzkin said.
2014 Horizon League Freshman and Player of the Year, Lauren Golick, made quick work of her opponent at the top of the lineup, giving CSU the 2-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Sherwood then extended CSU's lead to 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles. The Titans lone point of the contest came at No. 2 singles, as Irina Slizovskaya posted a 6-4, 6-1 victory over CSU's Alex Bush.
"Lauren and Kara got us a 3-0 advantage with quick victories on their courts, and then Victoria was able to fight through a tough second set and finally get a win after some delays on her court. I thought we showed great fight on all of the singles courts today, and played Cleveland State tennis on our way to getting the victory," Etzkin said.
After cruising to a 6-1 first set win, Victoria Bensimon battled for a 7-5 victory in the second set, clinching the match for the Vikings with her eighth straight singles victory.
"I'm proud to be in the finals again this year, and it is a great feeling getting the victory today. Our final challenge of the Horizon League season is to now beat the one team we didn't beat during the regular season. One thing we know about tomorrow's match is that the title will remain in Ohio this year, and I think that is something that both teams playing are excited about," Etzkin said.
The Vikings will now face No. 3 Youngstown State in the championship match of the 2014 Horizon League Tournament at 11:00 a.m. Sunday (April 27) morning. For those fans that are unable to attend Sunday's match, links for live video and live stats are available via the women's tennis schedule page on CSUVikings.com.
Cleveland State 4, Detroit 1
Doubles:
1. Power/Folkers (CSU) def. Laskutova/Sujashvili (DET), 8-4
2. Sherwood/Orange (CSU) def. Fernandes/Slizovskaya (DET), 8-7
3. Davydova/Kulikovskaya (DET) def. Gbadamosi/Bush (CSU), 8=2
Singles:
1. Lauren Golick (CSU) def. Viktoria Laskutova (DET), 6-1, 6-0
2. Irina Slizovskaya (DET) def. Alex Bush (CSU), 6-4, 6-1
3. Kara Sherwood (CSU) def. Valery Kulikovskaya (DET), 6-2, 6-2
4. Mathilde Orange (CSU) vs. Nino Sujashvili (DET), 7-6, 4-0, unifinished
5. Princess Gbadamosi (CSU) vs. Anna Davydova (DET), 7-6, 1-2, unfinished
6. Victoria Bensimon (CSU) def. Julia Fernandes (DET), 6-1, 7-5
