April 22, 2012

Contact: Renee Adam

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CSU-Wright State Results

2012 Horizon League Men's Bracket

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Despite strong singles play from Yannick Gossens, Ali Shabib and Matt Ford, the Cleveland State men's tennis team came up short in its regular season finale, falling to Wright State, 4-3. The Vikings end the regular season with an overall record of 10-11 and a 4-3 mark in Horizon League action.

"This was a tough loss for us today. We are a team that is so close to being the best team in the league, but we aren't quite there yet," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We had multiple opportunities to put the match away today, but we didn't take advantage of them and Wright State played a great match."

After dropping the doubles point, Ali Shabib evened the score at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4 singles. Shabib has now won three straight singles matches and enters next weekend's tournament with a perfect 3-0 mark at the No. 4 spot.

The two teams traded points once again to knot the score at 2-2, with the Raiders picking up a win at No. 2 singles and Matt Ford claiming a 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory at the No. 6 spot. Ford, who extended his win streak to eight Sunday afternoon, finished the season with a perfect 7-0 mark in Horizon League action, becoming the sixth Viking to do so over the past five seasons.

Wright State picked up its second singles win of the day at the No. 3 spot, before Yannick Goossens battled for a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory at No. 1 singles to even the score at 3-3 heading into the final match of the day. Goossens has now won three of his last four matches, and ended the year with a 5-2 mark in league play.

"Yannick played one of his best matches in his career today, playing smart tennis and defeating one of the best players in the league," Etzkin said. "Ali stepped up his play once again and his confidence continues to grow with every match which is great to see heading into the tournament. Congratulations to Matt Ford for finishing the season undefeated, one of only a handful of players to do so this year. He has been a leader on and off the court this season and hopefully that continues next weekend."

The Raiders were then able to earn a come from behind victory at No. 5 singles to claim the match and finish the regular season with a perfect 8-0 mark in league action.

"This year we will have to make it to the finals the hard way after earning the No. 4 seed in the tournament. We will have to beat some teams that we didn't during the regular season and I believe that we will do that and fight our way to the championship match," Etzkin said.

The Vikings, who claimed the No. 4 seed in the upcoming championship, will begin play with a first round match on Friday, April 27.

Wright State 4, Cleveland State 3
Doubles:
1. Jamison/Joblin (WSU) def. Marks/Shabib (CSU), 8-3
2. Goossens/Ford (CSU) def. Arguello/Makikalli (WSU), 8-4
3. Neuman/Harris (WSU) def. Kuelker/van der Vloet (CSU), 8-4

Singles:
1. Goossens, Yannick (CSU) def. Martin Arguello (WSUM) 7-6 (3), 6-3
2. Hayden Joblin (WSUM) def. Kuelker, Matt (CSU) 6-4, 7-5
3. Lauri Makikalli (WSUM) def. Marks, Nolan (CSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Shabib, Ali (CSU) def. Michal Lyzwa (WSUM) 6-4, 6-4
5. Jamison Clark (WSUM) def. Van Der Vloet, Jorg (CSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Ford, Matt (CSU) def. Evan Neuman (WSUM) 6-3, 7-6 (2)