Feb. 11, 2007

Contact: Josh Rattray

CINCINNATI, Ohio - Cleveland State won the doubles point and sophomore Rob West clinched the match at No. 6 singles in CSU's 4-3 victory at Xavier on Sunday. The Vikings, who have now won five straight, are now 8-1 on the season.

After Cleveland State won at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles, junior Brad Groleski (11-10) and freshman Ryan Hamning (18-5) won their singles matches at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, to give CSU an early 3-1 lead. Xavier hosted the contest in a tennis club with only four courts, so West and sophomore Steven Wipprecht had to wait until matches were over to begin their singles matches.

"With only four courts, it felt like we had that 3-1 lead forever," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We were struggling to get that fourth point and the Rob came through for us."

Groleski won 6-4, 7-6 (5) over Jeremy Miller and Hamning won 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 over Ra'ees Ismail but the Vikings lost the next three singles matches.

After West (12-3) won the first set over Brian Schubert 7-6 (3), both players battled to another tie-breaker in the second set. Both players held serve and West won the big points, the set and the match.

"He served like a professional today," Etzkin said. "We were waiting for the serve to break, but it never came. We just kept winning the big points."

Xavier defeated CSU by a 6-1 count last year, showing how much the Vikings have improved in a short time.

"This is one of the biggest wins we've had since I've been here," Etzkin said. "Xavier is one of the best teams in the region and to beat them is great for our program."

The Vikings are off this week and will head to Toledo on Feb. 24.

DOUBLES RESULTS

Orno/Hamning def. Matthews/Miller (X) - 8-6

Ismail/Torbeck (X) def. West/Wipprecht - 8-5

Groleski/Singer def. Schubert/Palmenter (X) - 8-6

SINGLES RESULTS

Doug Matthews (X) def. Phil Orno - 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

Brad Groleski def. Jeremy Miller (X) - 6-4, 7-6 (5)

Ryan Hamning def. Ra'ees Ismail (X) - 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

J.T. Torbeck (X) def. Dan Singer - 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4)

Mike Dieciuc (X) def. Steven Wipprecht - 7-6 (3), 6-4

Rob West def. Brian Schubert (X) - 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4)

EXHIBIITION
Adam Shaeffer (X) def. Danny Popescu - 8-0