Contact: Renee Adam

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Updated Qualifying Draw 

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Cleveland State men's tennis team completed day one of the ITA Midwest Regional Thursday evening, with Matt Ford advancing in the qualifying draw. Ford, along with Joe VanMeter, Niklas Jonsson, Matt Kuelker and Ali Shabib represented the Vikings in the qualifying draw of singles action.

"As a whole I thought we played very well in our first round matches, including Matt (Ford) who is playing some of his best singles this weekend," interim assistant coach Frank Polito said. "Niklas was also playing some great tennis today, unfortunately he just wasn't able to come out on top in his second round match. We had two tough three-set losses in the second round, but I thought we put up a good fight and really played well."

All five Vikings picked up victories during the first round of action Thursday, led by Ford who notched a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Alex Jese of Illinois. Ford then defeated Christian Roehmer of Michigan State (6-4, 1-6, 6-3) to advance to the final round of the qualifying draw. Ford will now face Nick Montoya of Notre Dame Friday at 8:00 a.m., with the winner earning a spot in the main singles draw.

Kuelker, who earned the No. 5 seed in the qualifying draw, picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win over Mario Noaboa of Chicago State in his opening match, before falling to Daniel Kang of IPFW, 6-1, 6-2. Shabib entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed, and earned a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Western Michigan's Marc Shideler before falling to Max Phillips of Northern Illinois (6-1, 2-6, 7-6).

VanMeter picked up a 7-5, 6-2 win over Connor Andrew of IPFW in his first round match, while Jonsson earned a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Valparaiso's Lucas Waak. VanMeter then fell to Sten Levsink of DePaul (6-4, 4-6, 7-6) in the second round, and Jonsson lost to Julian Childers of Illinois (6-4, 6-4).

The Vikings will continue play at the ITA Midwest Regional tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 19), with the completion of the qualifying singles draw and the first round of doubles and the first round of the main singles draw. Play is slated to begin at 8:00 a.m.

Qualifying Singles Draw:
Ford (CSU) def. Jese (ILL), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ford (CSU) def. Roehmer (MSU), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
VanMeter (CSU) def. Andrew (IPFW), 7-5, 6-2
Levsink (DP) def. VanMeter (CSU), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6
Jonsson (CSU) def. Waak (VALPO), 6-2, 6-1
Childers (ILL) def. Jonsson (CSU), 6-4, 6-4
Kuelker (CSU) def. Noaboa (CHST), 6-4, 6-2
Kang (IPFW) def. Kuelker (CSU), 6-1, 6-2
Shabib (CSU) def. Shideler (WMU), 6-3, 6-0
Phillips (NIU) def. Shabib (CSU), 6-1, 2-6, 7-6