Sept. 29, 2007

Contact: Brian McCann

TULSA, Okla. -- Viking sophomore Phil Orno won his first qualifying round match to advance to play at least one additional match on Sunday at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships, which are being hosted this week by the University of Tulsa.

In addition, sophomore Ryan Hamning won his first round match but lost in the second round to be eliminated from the qualifying bracket.

"I sent Ryan and Phil to this tournament because we wanted to get them some more experience playing against national-caliber opponents," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Judging from their play today, both of them deserved to be here because they fared pretty well.

"This should be a sign to them that they are capable of leading the Vikings to some good things this year. I look forward to seeing what each of them will do in the next three years," Etzkin added.

Orno, who received a first round bye in the qualifying round, bested Weber State's Sascha Kiene, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 to advance to the third round on Sunday morning where he will face Morehead State's Greg Johnstone.

Hamning won his opening round match, routing Northern Arizona's Bradley Bristow, 6-2, 6-0, on Saturday morning before falling in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, to Texas A&M's Kayvon Karimi on Saturday evening to be eliminated from the bracket.

Orno and Hamning are the only two players representing Cleveland State at the All-American and each will need to win several more qualifying round matches to advance to the main bracket.