Valparaiso's Emhardt, Cleveland State's Golick Collect #HLTennis Honors

INDIANAPOLIS –Valparaiso freshman Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind.) is the Horizon League men’s tennis Player of the Week, while Cleveland State freshman Lauren Golick (Westlake, Ohio) is the Horizon League women’s tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 7-13. This is the first League honor for each student-athlete this spring.

The Valparaiso men’s tennis team played in two road matches this past week against conference opponent Detroit and No. 12 Notre Dame. The Crusaders knocked off the Titans 5-2 to pick up their second Horizon League victory of the year. On Sunday, the men fell to the Fighting Irish 6-1 in South Bend, Ind. The team currently holds a 16-7 overall record and is 2-2 in conference play.

Emhardt went undefeated in the two matches in both singles and doubles play. At No. 5 singles versus Detroit, he defeated Ismail Kadyrov in straight-sets 6-2, 6-3. In doubles play with teammate Jeffrey Schorsch, the pair won convincingly against Kadyrov and Jay Joshi 8-1 at No. 2 doubles. Taking on nationally-ranked Notre Dame, Emhardt earned the sole singles victory of the match for Valparaiso defeating Alex Lawson 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 singles. The No. 2 doubles pairing of Emhardt and Schorsch won 8-4 to pick up the teams only doubles victory on Sunday.

The Cleveland State women’s tennis team played Horizon League-foes Green Bay and Milwaukee at home on Saturday and Sunday. The Vikings shut out the Phoenix 7-0 and handed Milwaukee its first conference loss of the year in a 4-3 victory. Cleveland State moved to 9-11 overall and is 5-1 in the Horizon League.

Golick led the Vikings in their two wins playing at No. 1 singles with a victory in each match. The freshman has won six of her last seven matches while owning a 5-1 League record. She defeated Green Bay’s Stephanie Londre in straight-sets 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday before posting a crucial come-from-behind win over Milwaukee’s Diana Tokar on Sunday. In the three-set victory, Golick lost the first set 1-6 but bounced back to take the next two 6-4, 6-4 to earn a singles point for the Vikings.

Valparaiso closes out regular-season play this coming week in a non-conference match against Chicago State Tuesday, April 15. In weekend play, the Crusaders host Youngstown State and Cleveland State to cap off Horizon League matches. Cleveland State finishes its regular-season on the road at UIC Friday, April 18 before taking on Valparaiso Saturday.

Top Men’s Tennis Players of the Week:
Manuel Bellutti, Cleveland State (Jr.)—Won at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles against Green Bay. Remained undefeated in Horizon League singles play and has now won six-straight singles matches.
Leopold Gomez Islinger, Green Bay (So.)—Won both of his No. 2 singles matches in straight-sets to help Green Bay improve to 4-0 in conference play.

Top Women’s Tennis Players of the Week:
Marta Burak, Youngstown State (Jr.)—Lost a total of three sets in singles match play over the weekend while going undefeated at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.
Jana Knoppe, UIC (Sr.)—Went undefeated against Oakland and Detroit, winning at No. 4 and No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles. She has now won her last 14 singles matches and is 17-1 on the season.
Valery Kulikovskaya, Detroit (So.)—Won three matches against UIC and Valparaiso, winning at No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles.
Kristin Kurer, Milwaukee (Sr.)—Won in both singles and doubles against Youngstown State to keep Milwaukee at the top of the League with one match remaining.

Men’s Tennis Player of the Week:
Jan. 20: Silviu Mistreanu, Youngstown State
Jan. 27: Jorg van der Vloet, Cleveland State
Feb. 3: Ali Shabib, Cleveland State
Feb. 10: Leopold Gomez Islinger, Green Bay
Feb. 17: Jeffrey Schorsch, Valparaiso
Feb. 24: Matt Kuelker, Cleveland State
March 3: Jeffrey Schorsch, Valparaiso
March 10: Dave Bacalla, Valparaiso
March 17: Matt Kuelker, Cleveland State
March 24: Rodrigo Campos, Youngstown State
March 31: Michael Tenzer, Green Bay
April 7: Charlie Emhardt, Valparaiso

Women’s Tennis Player of the Week:
Jan. 13: Lauren Smith, Wright State
Jan. 20: Nino Sujashvili, Detroit
Jan. 27: Jana Knoppe, UIC
Feb. 3: Margarita Sadovnikova, Youngstown State
Feb. 10: Annina Brendel, Youngstown State
Feb. 17: Dominika Lackova, Youngstown State
Feb. 24: Alex Bush, Cleveland State
March 3: Diana Tokar, Milwaukee
March 10: Karine Celis, Oakland
March 17: Christina Colarossi, Milwaukee
March 24: Kathryn Sharples, UIC
March 31: Kristin Kurer, Milwaukee
April 7: Lauren Golick, Cleveland State