Feb. 1, 2006

SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State women's tennis team hosts Akron on Feb. 2 at 12:00 noon before traveling to Niagara (Feb. 4) and Buffalo (Feb. 5). The men travel to Niagara (Feb. 3) and St. Bonaventure (Feb. 4).

LAST TIME OUT: The women's tennis team went 2-1 this past weekend, to improve to 4-3 for the year. CSU fell 6-1 to Toledo (Jan. 29) before sweeping Robert Morris 7-0 later that evening. Sarah Galon and Christine Vogelgesang both downed the Colonials 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 and No. 6 singles. The women cruised to a 5-2 victory over St. Bonaventure (Jan. 27) thanks to strong doubles play which helped secure the early lead. Galon and Jenn Myers led the Vikings at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, downing their opponents 6-0, 6-2.

Xavier downed the men's team 6-1 (Jan. 28) in the Vikings first match of the spring. Junior transfer Olivier Dahine won the only match of the day, defeating Doug Matthews 6-2, 6-4. No. 6 Steven Wipprecht lost a hard-fought three-set match to Mike Djeciuc 6-7 (7), 6-0, 6-1.

HEAD COACH Brian Etzkin: Brian Etzkin is now in his fourth year with both the men's and women's tennis programs. Etzkin, the 2003-04 Horizon League Women's Coach of the Year, has accumulated the most career wins for a coach in CSU history with 28. Last season, he coached Sarah Galon to Horizon League Player of the Year honors, the first time a Viking tennis player has won the award. On the men's side he has coached the 2003 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year (senior Jay Tee) and had players on both the first and second All-Horizon League teams.

ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: "We're very excited to play Akron because our proximity to them makes them a natural rival. Last year was the first time we beat Akron in a close 4-3 match so they will definitely be out for revenge. The matches against Niagara and Buffalo are going to be real battles. We have struggled against Buffalo in the past but hope to make progress this year. The team has put in a good week of practice and we have the potential to do really well."

ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "The men are just starting to gel as a team so we're a long way from peaking. Our doubles teams are starting to improve and the team is getting used to playing with an entirely different lineup than in the fall. This weekend, we could take a big step forward in our season. We won both matches against Niagara and St. Bonaventure last year but it came down to a very slim margin."

FLEET OF FIRSTS: The women's tennis team capped off their fall season at the ITA Regional (Oct. 21-24) with a number of firsts for Cleveland State. A record six Viking women competed in singles and doubles at the 2005 regional in East Lansing, Mich. Sarah Galon added to her already impressive resume by becoming the first women's tennis player in Cleveland State history to compete in the singles main draw. Galon also teamed up with Morgan Ungerott to earn the Vikings' first ever regional win in the consolation round of the doubles main draw.

INTERNATIONAL FLARE: Just one week into the spring season, junior transfer Olivier Dahine is already showing signs of promise for the Vikings. In his collegiate debue (Jan. 28) Dahine, a native of France, downed Xavier's Doug Matthews, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 singles for CSU's only win of the match.

SINGLED OUT: Sophomore Jenn Myers is on a three-match winning streak for the Vikings after the first home dual meet of the season. Myers defeated Stephanie Fosnight of St. Bonaventure 6-0, 6-2 (Jan. 27) at No. 2 singles. Two days later she secured CSU's only win against Toledo, downing Viviano Rivera 6-0, 7-5 (Jan. 29). That same day Myers grabbed her third two-set victory over Kathryn Skopinski of Robert Morris, 6-1, 6-2. She is 9-4 for the year and 4-1 for the spring.

DOUBLE DUTY: The No.1 doubles team of Rob West and Jay Tee is on fire this season, posting a 7-2 record for the year. The unlikely freshman and senior duo lost their second match of the year to Xavier (Jan. 28) 8-2. They suffered their first loss in the doubles main draw of the ITA Regional (Oct. 20-23) to No. 4 seed Louiseville. Tee and West finished 3-0 at the Can-Am Tournament (Oct. 14-16), where they easily downed the University of Waterloo 8-2, SUNY Geneseo 8-0 and the University of Toronto 8-3.

For the women, the No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott is now 6-3 after downing St. Bonaventure 8-3 (Jan. 27) and Robert Morris 8-1 (Jan. 29) this past weekend. The pair defeated Bradley, 8-0 (Oct. 21) for the Vikings first ever ITA regional win. Jenn Myers and Christine Vogelgesang also remain strong at No. 3 doubles with a 3-2 record. Most recently, the sophomore unit topped St. Bonaventure 8-2 and Robert Morris 8-1.

TEEING OFF: There is no doubt that senior Jay Tee will leave a lasting impression here at CSU. The three-time All-Horizon League second team selection is 9-4 for the 2005-06 season. The Can-Am Tournament (Oct. 14-16) marked a big weekend for Tee as he defeated three of his four singles opponents in two straight sets. Tee ended last season with a 6-10 singles record, spending most of the time at No. 2 singles. He also finished with a 7-6 doubles record, playing with three different partners over the course of the season. When he is not on the court, Tee serves as president of the CSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council. The group recently coordinated a campus-wide effort to supply relief to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

HAWAIIAN PUNCH: Junior Sarah Galon continues to lead the Vikings at No. 1 singles despite going up against some tough compeition. Galon is currently 5-7 for 2005-06, winning all but one match in two sets. Most recently she shut out Robert Morris' Renne James 6-0, 6-0 (Jan. 29). She defeated St. Bonaventure's Anna Perevenzetseva 6-0, 6-2 (Jan. 27). Galon became the first Vikings' tennis player to earn Horizon League Player of the Year honors this past year. She was named Horizon League Newcomer of the Year two seasons ago.

LIVINGSTONE NOTCHES FIRST CAREER WIN: Walkon Junior Alex Livingstone won his first collegiate match on Sept. 9, defeating Zach Landgraf from Youngstown State in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. Livingstone previously had won several exhibition matches, but this was his first victory in tournament play. Last season, Livingstone went 0-2 in tournaments and lost his only match at the No. 6 singles position.

UP NEXT: The women take a week off before traveling to Indiana (Feb. 17) to take on Southeast Missouri and IPFW. The men travel to Iowa and UW-Green Bay (Feb. 10-11).