Sept. 5, 2004
LORETTO, Pa. - The Cleveland State men's and women's tennis teams opened the 2004-05 season where they left off last year, sweeping St. Francis in a non-conference match on Sunday in Loretto, Pa. The Vikings breezed through the match, losing just one set on their way to the sweep.
"This was definitely a good way to start the season," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Today's match was on clay, and it's probably the only one we will have all year on clay, but it was good because we had to hit a lot of shots to win points. It will serve as a reminder to us about how to construct points."
The men's team eased through the match with four players winning one of their sets by a 6-0 score. Eric Winn defeated Brent Keough at No. 1, 6-1, 6-0, while Brad Groleski, in his first collegiate match, knocked off Tyler Jones at No. 2, 6-0, 6-2. At No. 5, Dan Singer defeated Mark Pell, 6-1, 6-0, and Jordan Reynolds beat Michael Tucci, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 6 singles.
"We're really getting off to a strong start," Winn said. "This is the best I've played since I've been at Cleveland State. I'm playing with a lot of confidence right now, and it's a good start for the season."For the women, five of the six singles matches were won in straight sets. At No. 1 singles, Sarah Galon defeated Lesley Wenzel, 6-1, 6-1, while Morgan Ungerott picked up a win by an identical score over Becky Seybold at No. 3 singles. Rebekah Bicksler defeated Mallery Palmer, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 4 singles, and Lindsay Sellers defeated Danielle Gauthier, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 6.
"It feels great to get started this way," Bicksler said. "With the four of us returning and the three freshmen, we're a lot stronger than we've been in the past. We're having a lot more fun now and we're playing very relaxed."
"We had three freshmen in the starting lineup for the women and one for the men, and I thought they all got a good warmup in and came right out and went to work," Etzkin said. "It was good to see them on the court. To this point, it's all been guessing what their impact will be, but they all look promising for both teams.
"For our starting seniors, four years ago, this would have been a tight, competitive match," Etzkin said. "It shows we've come a long way in the past four years, but this is still just the first step this season, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us."
The men return to action on Sept. 17-19 at the Ball State Invitational, while the women's team will next play at Akron on Friday, Sept. 10.
