April 4, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Cleveland State women's tennis team lost a pair of matches this weekend in Indianapolis, falling to Southern Indiana on Saturday before losing a Horizon League match to Butler on Sunday. The Vikings fall to 9-14 on the year with the two losses.
On Saturday against Southern Indiana, the Vikings got three wins in singles but could not manage a fourth to clinch the win. Sarah Galon picked up a 6-2, 6-1, win over Ashley Rees at No. 1 singles, with Morgan Ungerott and Rebekah Bicksler adding wins at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Ungerott defeated Kathleen Davis, 6-1, 6-2, while Bicksler beat Cassy Froderman, 6-1, 6-2. The top doubles pairing of Galon and Ungerott also collected their ninth-straight win, defeating Rees and Audra Bartelt, 8-5.
"We came in feeling like the favored team against Southern Indiana, but I felt like we weren't at the top of our game in doubles," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I give Southern Indiana a lot of credit, they believed they could play with us after the doubles matches, and they did."
Cleveland State then took on Butler on Sunday afternoon, but came up on the short end of a 6-1 decision. Galon picked up her 16th win of the year at No. 1 singles, defeating Christina Laun, 2-6, 7-5, (10-3), for the Vikings' only point of the day. Galon and Ungerott also had their nine-match win streak at No. 1 doubles snapped, losing 8-5 to Laun and Alaina Griffin.
"Sarah continues to play very strong at No. 1 singles, and she got another conference win over a crafty veteran player today," Etzkin said. "Earlier in the year, she didn't believe that she could win when matches got tough, but now she knows that she can and seems to play better when the points are bigger."
"Morgan and I really wanted our tenth in a row, and we gave it all we had, but we just weren't up to their level today," Galon said. "I think I've started believing that I can play with anyone and I can win a big match. I just kept my head in it all the way today, and my attitude stayed positive."
The Vikings return to play on Thursday with a trip to Pittsburgh to take on Robert Morris at noon.
