Cleveland State Captures Fourth Straight Horizon League Men's Tennis Title

INDIANAPOLIS -- When push came to shove, the Cleveland State men's tennis team delivered.  Pushed to three sets in four matches by a game Green Bay squad, the Vikings delivered the clutch points in a 4-1 championship win.  The League title is the fourth straight for Cleveland State, returning them to the NCAA Tournament.

Cleveland State (15-7) recorded its 34th win over League opponents, though the final score was not indicative of the closeness of the day's match.  Delayed almost two hours by early morning rain in Indianapolis, the Vikings struck quickly in doubles play, with Yannick Goossens and Chris Klepatz tallying an 8-2 victory at No. 2.  Cleveland State claimed the first point of the championship when Rob Fox and John Haley recorded an 8-3 decision at No. 1.

Needing four singles wins to pick up the League title, Green Bay drew first blood, as Christoph Hopfe cruised at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1.  Roughly 20 minutes later, though, Matt Kuelker put Cleveland State back in front after a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3.

From there, though, the next eight sets were split among players at Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 6, leaving the championship in doubt as each match went to a decisive third set.  John Haley put the Vikings in championship position, overcoming a second set loss to claim a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory at No. 5.  While Fox was two points away from clinching the match, its was Matt Ford at No. 6 who took the honors, rolling to consecutive 6-1 decisions in his final two sets to send Cleveland State back to the NCAA Tournament.

In the third place match, Wright State won four singles matches to down UIC, 4-3.

(1) Cleveland State 4, (2) Green Bay 1
Horizon League Men’s Tennis Championship | Indianapolis (North Central H.S.)
Doubles:
No. 1 – Rob Fox/John Haley (CSU) def. Fabian Gogolin/Christoph Hopfe (GB) 8-3
No. 2 – Yannick Goossens/Chris Klepatz (CSU) def. Erik Finkenbrink/Josh Oothoudt (GB) 8-2
No. 3 – Matt Kuelker/Matt Ford (CSU) vs. Craig Cox/Paul Swanson (GB) 3-6 DNF
   Order of finish: 2-1

Singles:
No. 1 – Yannick Goossens (CSU) vs. Erik Finkenbrink (GB) 6-3, 5-7, 2-2 DNF
No. 2 – Rob Fox (CSU) vs. Craig Cox (GB) 4-6, 7-5, 5-4 DNF
No. 3 – Matt Kuelker (CSU) def. Paul Swanson (GB) 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Christoph Hopfe (GB) def. Chris Klepatz (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 – John Haley (CSU) def. Fabian Gogolin (GB) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
No. 6 – Matt Ford (CSU) def. Henning Jess (GB) 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-1
   Order of finish: 4-3-5-6

(3) WrightState4, (4) UIC 3
Horizon League Men's Tennis Third Place Match | Indianapolis (North Central H.S.)
Doubles:
No. 1 – Alex Raa/Dave Robare (UIC) def. Jan Alafriz/Brian Dredge (WSU) 8-4
No. 2 – Landon Neuman/Evan Neuman (WSU) vs. Alan Reifer/Scott Shepardson (UIC) 7-5 DNF
No. 3 – Luiz Gonzaga/Rahul Kamath (UIC) def. Riyad Bennoui/Michal Lyzwa (WSU) 8-6
   Order of finish: 1-3

Singles:
No. 1 – Martin Arguello (WSU) def. Alex Raa (UIC) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
No. 2 – Michal Lyzwa (WSU) def. Luiz Gonzaga (UIC) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 – Riyad Bennoui (WSU) def. James Li (UIC) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 – Evan Neuman (WSU) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 – Gautham Oroskar (UIC) def. Daniel Hyman (WSU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 – Camilo Giraldo (UIC) def. Art Keighly (WSU) 6-0, 6-0
   Order of finish: 6-5-4-2-3-1