Jan. 16, 2008

Contact: Jessica Gerich

Complete Release in PDF Format

FIRST SERVE: The men's and women's tennis teams open their spring seasons in Fort Wayne, Ind. at IPFW. The men will take on the Mastodons on Friday, Jan. 18 at 10:00 a.m. The men's squad plays to Michigan State the following day at 6:00 p.m.and Indiana on Monday, Jan. 21 at 10:00 a.m. The women travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. Sunday, Jan. 20 at 9:00 a.m. The women then head north to East Lansing, Mich. for a match against Michigan State on Monday, Jan. 21 at 10:00 a.m.

MEN'S FALL RECAP: CSU's men's team only played in tournaments this past fall, seeing no dual action. All- Horizon League First Team selection Phil Orno finished the fall season 6-6 at No. 1 singles, while Ryan Hamning, an all-league second team selection finished 8-4 at No. 2 singles. Freshman Chris Klepatz compiled a 3-4 record at No. 3 singles, junior Rob West finished the fall season with a 3-7 record at No. 4 singles. Junior Steven Wipprecht went 0-7 at No. 5 singles. Freshman Robert Fox put together a solid 5-4 record at No. 6 singles to conclude the fall season. Orno, Hamning, and West all earned a berth in the ITA Regionals in the singles qualifying draw. Orno and Hamning also paired for doubles at the ITA Tournament.

WOMEN'S FALL RECAP: The Viking women did not play any dual matches during the fall, playing four tournaments. Freshmen Melissa Holzinger and Jackie Tabb each earned a berth in the singles qualifying draw at the ITA Regionals, while Tabb also played in the doubles round,with senior Jenn Myers. Holzinger, a Minneapolis, Minn. native, finished the fall season 3-8 at No. 1 singles and Tabb played No. 2 singles, compiling a 2-10 record. Myers and freshman Sanda Bjelan are 6-4 and 5-5 in the middle of the lineup. Sophomore Denisa Muntean went 5-5 in the fall at No. 5 singles, while senior Lindsey Sellers finished 2-8 at No. 6 singles to round out CSU's lineup. Sophomore Charlotte Gibbons, who missed most of the fall season due to injury, finished second in the Flight seven singles at the Bowling Green Invitational.

THE HEAD COACH
Brian Etzkin (Southern Illinois, `98)
Men's Record: 63-63
Women's Record: 59-76
Brian Etzkin, CSU's all-time coaching wins leader, has led both the men's and women's team to five straight seasons with 10 wins or more. Nine Vikings have garnered All-Horizon League recognition under Etzkin's tutelage and two players have earned Horizon League Newcomer of the Year honors. Etzkin guided both the men's and women's teams to new heights last season, with the women having their best tournament finish in program history, (third) while the men tied their best tournament finish in school history (third).

ETZKIN ON THE MEN: "We return three all-league players to the same team. We have Orno and Hamning leading the way at the top of the lineup with Brad Groleski recovering from injury. The top of our lineup was definitely the strength this fall and our younger players received some valuable experience in the middle. Our doubles should be very strong again and we should be contending for a league title by the end of the year. The team and I have very high expectations for 2008."

ETZKIN ON THE WOMEN: "This women's team is the strongest we've ever had and I feel confident about having a chance to win at every spot in the lineup. This is the deepest team we've ever had. I feel very confident with our entire team, one through nine. Our starting six is very young. We have freshmen at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 to start the season with sophomores at Nos. 5 and 6. Our only senior in the starting singles lineup is Jenn Myers at No. 3. The fall was great in terms of experience for this young team. Hopefully, by mid-spring, we'll be ready for our league schedule. We finished third last year and want to improve on that with a chance to win the title."

BACK FROM WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Sophomores Ryan Hamning and Phil Orno, Horizon League selections following their freshman campaigns, picked up where they left off last season. Orno posted a 6-6 record at No. 1 singles during the fall season, while Hamning posted an 8-4 record at No. 2 singles. Hamning and Orno were the only two players representing CSU at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships, which were held in Tulsa, Ok. Both were selected to play singles and doubles at the ITA Regional Tournament.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: The women's team compiled a 17-15 doubles record, finishing the fall season two games above the .500 mark. The men's team was not far behind, finishing 11-12, only one game below .500. Senior Christine Vogelgesang posted the best doubles record for the women's team, going 8-2. Sophomores Ryan Hamning and Phil Orno finished the fall season 5-3, the best mark for the men's squad.

SENIOR STRENGTH: Senior Jenn Myers finished the fall season 6-4 at No. 3 singles, including a second place finish at the Bowling Green Invitational. Christine Vogelgesang finished the fall season with an 8-2 doubles record, going 4-1 with both Myers and Lindsey Sellers. Morgan Ungerott, playing mostly doubles, compiled a 3-2 doubles record. Brad Groleski, the lone senior on the men's squad, compiled a 1-1 singles record.

FRESHMEN IMPORTS: Freshmen Sanda Bjelan and Robert Fox have compiled the best record among CSU newcomers. Bjelan, a Bad Ragaz, Switzerland product, has posted a 5-5 record, while Fox, a Rotterdam, Netherlands native, finished the fall season with a 5-4 record, which is the only freshman record above .500 for both the men's and women's teams. Bjelan owns a 3-3 doubles record while Fox went 2-3 in doubles play during the fall season.

UP NEXT: The Viking men host their first home match of the season when Xavier visits on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 2:00 p.m. The women host Toledo the following day at 12:00 p.m.