Horizon League Tennis Championships Results
Men:
(1) Green Bay 4, (4) Wright State 1
(2) Cleveland State 4, (6) Detroit 3
Consolation: (5) UIC, (3) Youngstown State
Women:
(1) UIC 4, (4) Detroit 1
(2) Youngstown State 4, (3) Cleveland State 2
For the third straight season, Cleveland State and Green Bay will meet to decide the Horizon League men’s tennis title, while on the women’s side, UIC will go for its 17th straight crown, taking on Youngstown State.
Due to the forecast of rain for Sunday, both matches will be played at the West Indy Racquet Club (4458 Guion Road, Indianapolis, IN 46254) on the west side of Indianapolis. The men’s match will begin at 9 a.m. ET, with the women’s scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET.
(1) Green Bay 4, (4) Wright State 1
In a match full of swings, Green Bay held off a feisty Wright State squad, 4-1, to reach the finals of the Horizon League men’s tennis championship for the third straight season.
Green Bay took an early 1-0 lead, sweeping the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches. Erik Finkenbrink and Craig Cox jumped out to an 8-4 win, before Howard Scott and Michael Tebon grabbed an 8-6 victory to five the Phoenix the point.
Wright State quickly responded to tie the match, as Jamison Clark cruised at No. 5, 6-4, 6-4. And while Green Bay took four of the six first sets, the Raiders rallied to force a third set in two of those matches.
A third was seemingly headed for a decisive set at No. 1, before Michael Tenzer showed the form that carried him to the Horizon League Player of the Year award. After winning the first set, 6-4, Tenzer trailed, 4-1, in the second before rallying with five straight games to take a 6-4, 6-4 victory and boost the Phoenix’s lead to 3-1.
From there, the Phoenix slowly closed in on the victory, with Erik Finkenbrink and Craig Cox each two points away from the clinching win; however, it was Howard Scott who finally sealed the result for Green Bay, winning at No. 4, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Green Bay will meet Cleveland State for the third consecutive year in the men’s tennis championship; the teams have split the last two, with the Phoenix capturing the 2012 crown.
(2) Cleveland State 4, (6) Detroit 3
Trailing 3-2, Cleveland State rallied for a 4-3 victory over Detroit, returning to the conference championship for the sixth straight season.
The Vikings took the doubles point, winning at No. 1 and No. 3 before Detroit put itself on the verge of victory.
Mike Basha and Chris Cheung picked up victories at No. 1 and No. 5 singles for Detroit, each winning in straight sets, sandwiching wins around Niklas Jonsson’s straight set win at No. 4 for Cleveland State, knotting the match at 2-2.
Cesar Escobar Serrano then gave Detroit a 3-2 lead, taking a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 2, putting the Titans on the verge of its second straight upset win in the tournament.
With both matches on the court in the third set, Cleveland State rallied back, first using Joe VanMeter’s 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win at No. 6 to tie the match. And when Ali Shabib completed his comeback, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 3, the Vikings were into their sixth straight conference championship.
(1) UIC 4, (4) Detroit 1
The 16-time defending women’s tennis champions, UIC staved off a potential rally from Detroit, reaching its 17th straight Horizon League women’s final with a 4-1 win over the Titans.
UIC built a 3-1 lead and took the first set in each of the remaining three matches, seemingly controlling their fate. However, when Detroit won each of the next three sets, the Titans threatened to steal the match.
However, Natasha Kuvakina squashed the rally at No. 3 singles. Trailing 3-0 in the third set, Kuvakina won six straight games to snag the clinching point.
Earlier, UIC took a 1-0 lead with doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Kuvakina and Ann-Sophie Hahn took the 8-3 victory at No. 3, while Haley Craig and Mariana Palacios snared the No. 1 win.
Craig would roll at No. 1 singles, taking a 6-3, 6-0 win to give UIC a 2-0, while Nino Sujashvili put Detroit on the scoreboard with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph at No. 2.
Keti Mebuke’s 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 put UIC one victory from the match and set the stage for a dramatic final hour of tennis.
(2) Youngstown State 4, (3) Cleveland State 2
Youngstown State’s top of the lineup was too much for Cleveland State, as the Penguins returned to the Horizon League women’s tennis championship for the first time since 2005 with a 4-2 win over the Vikings.
The Peguins’ top three singles players – Horizon League Player of the Year Paula de Man, Margarita Saovnikova and Marta Burak – all scored straight set victories at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 singles, respectively, to push YSU into the championship.
The trio also powered Youngstown State’s doubles wins, which gave the Penguins an early 1-0 lead. Burak and Sadovnikova took an 8-4 win at No. 1, while de Man and Lauren Hankle combined on an 8-4 victory at No. 2.
Cleveland State earning victories at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, with Maria Lazaris (6-2, 6-4) and Nicole Janek (6-1, 7-5) giving the Vikings hope of the victory.
However, de Man (6-2, 6-4), Sadovnikova (6-2, 6-0) and Burak (6-4, 6-1) countered with straight-set wins at the top half of the draw.
