Sept. 18, 2010
Contact: Brian McCann
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Cleveland State went 10-3 in singles play, advancing players to the championship match in four of the eight flights, and swept three doubles contests on the opening day of the 2010 BGSU Invitational.
"Today was a great way to start the season off," CSU head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Last year we didn't win a match in the opening round but today, we only lost one on the court and one because of injury.
"We really showed how deep and strong this lineup is. I am impressed with the sharpness of this team this early in the season and how we performed against a field that includes several conference teams along with some other strong teams from Ohio."
It was a day for the underclass as Viking freshmen Kara Sherwood (No 3 singles) and Alexandra Bush (No 5) and sophomores Nicole Janek (No. 4) and Mengdi Liu (No 8) each won a pair of singles matches to advance to Sunday's championship contest of their respective singles flights.
Playing at No. 3 singles, Sherwood dropped the opening set to Toledo's Ashley Frey, 7-5, but stormed back to take the next two sets, 6-2, 6-0 in the opening round and then routed Bowling Green's Carolyn Jesko, 6-2, 6-0 in the semi-finals
Janek also battled back from behind, dropping the first set of her semi-final match to Bowling Green's Nikki Chiricosta, 6-2 before regrouping to take the next two sets, 6-3 and 6-4 to advance to the final Janek had little problem with Detroit Elena Strakhova in the first round, battling to a 7-5 win in the first before running away with a 6-1 decision in the second set.
"Nicole and Kara showed some mental toughness out there today," Etzkin said. "It is tough to come back after losing the first set, but both of them not only came back, but they dominated\."
Playing at No 5 singles, Bush was hardly challenged, blanking IPFW's Alex Forsyth, 6-0, 6-0 in the first round before dropping just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Detroit's Erin Weldon in the semi-finals.
Liu, who was at No. 8 singles, claimed a pair of straight set victories, toppling conference rival Annie Jesko of Youngstown State, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round and Xavier's Christie Pliemann, 6-3, 7-6 in the semi-finals.
Two of the three CSU losses came at the top of the lineup.
Junior Catrine Bjerrehus was forced to withdraw from her No. 1 singles first round match with Youngstown State's Marhariya Sadovnikova because of a knee injury.
At No. 2 singles, freshman Alex Powers dropped her first round match to Cincinnati's Safiyva Ismail, 6-2, 6-1, but battled back to topple IUPUI's Shelby Hullett in a marathon match, winning 2-6, 6-1, 11-9. Powers will play for the consolation title on Sunday.
Doubles play went well for the Vikings as CSU opened the day by easily claiming all three doubles contests.
Play resumes on Sunday with the semi-final doubles matches in the morning followed by the final singles matches of the tourney. Play then concludes in the afternoon with the doubles finals.
2010 BGSU Invitational
First Day Results
No. 1 Singles:
Marhariya Sadovnikova (YSU) def. Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU), injury default
No. 2 Singles:
Safiyya Ismail (Cincinnati) def. Alex Power (CSU), 6-2, 6-1
Powers (CSU) def. Shelby Hullett (IUPUI), 2-6, 6-1, 11-9
(Powers will play for consolation championship on Sunday)
No. 3 Singles:
Kara Sherwood (CSU) def. Ashley Frey (Toledo), 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
Sherwood (CSU) def. Carolyn Jesko (BG), 6-2, 6-0
(Sherwood will play for No. 3 singles title on Sunday)
No. 4 Singles:
Nicole Janek (CSU) def. Elena Strakhova (Detroit), 7-5, 6-1
Janek (CSU) def. Nikki Chiricosta (BG), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
(Janek will play for No. 4 singles title on Sunday)
No. 5 Singles:
Alex Bush (CSU) def. Alex Forsyth (IPFW), 6-0, 6-0
Bush (CSU) def. Erin Weldon (Detroit), 6-1, 6-0
(Bush will play for No. 5 singles title on Sunday)
No. 6 Singles:
Sanda Bjelan (CSU) def. Allyson Westling (Xavier), 7-6, 6-4
Chrissy Coffman (Toledo) def. Bjelan (CSU), 6-1, 6-2
(Bjelan will play for third place on Sunday)
No. 8 Singles:
Mengdi Liu (CSU) def. Annie Jesko (YSU), 6-1, 6-2
Liu (CSU) def. Christie Pleiman (Xavier), 6-3, 7-6
(Liu will play for No. 8 singles title on Sunday)
No.1 Doubles:
Bjerrehus/Sherwood (CSU) def. Halabi/Salas (Detroit), 8-2
No. 3 Doubles:
Power/Janek (CSU) def. Alkie/Westling (Xavier), 8-4
No. 4 Doubles:
Bjelan/Bush (CSU) def. Grubb (BG)/Handler (Xavier), 8-2
