Cleveland State Falls in NCAA Men's Tennis Championship Opener, 4-0

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Appearing in the NCAA Championship for the fourth straight year, the Cleveland State men's tennis team had its season come to a close with a 4-0 setback at 10th-ranked Kentucky on Friday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in a first round match.

It was the third straight season that the Vikings played at Kentucky in the opening round.

The Vikings, who captured their fourth straight Horizon League title on April 23, conclude their season with a 16-8 overall record. Kentucky improved to 27-8 overall and advanced to the second round where the Wildcats will face Louisville on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Louisville advanced with a 4-0 win over Cornell earlier on Friday.

Kentucky earned the doubles point with an 8-4 win at No. 2 and an 8-0 win at No. 3.

CSU's top doubles team of Rob Fox and John Haley, who won a school record 28 matches this season, were hanging tough with the Wildcats No. 1 duo of 19th-ranked Eric Quigley and Brad Cox, trailing, 5-4, when the match was halted.

"We did some good things out there in doubles today and Rob and John really battled hard against a nationally-ranked team," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "But ultimately they had too much for us and were able to get the doubles point."

Kentucky took a 2-0 lead with a victory at No. 4 singles and moved within a point of clinching the match with a win at No. 3 singles. Quigley clinched the 4-0 win with a win at No. 1 singles.

"Kentucky is very good team and very well coached," Etzkin said. "I feel that we have closed the gap on them from the first time we played three years ago, but they won a lot of big points and got a lot of early breaks in singles that gave them momentum. This was another good learning experience for us and hopefully we can take some things from this match as we look ahead to next year."

#10 Kentucky 4, Cleveland State 0 
May 13, 2011 at Lexington, Ky. (Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
1. #6 QUIGLEY, Eric (UK) def. Goossens, Yannick (CSU) 6-2, 6-2
2. #53 MUSIALEK, Alex (UK) vs. Fox, Rob (CSU) 7-5, 1-0, unfinished
3. COX, Brad (UK) def. Kuelker, Matt (CSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. #90 GONZALEZ, Alberto (UK) def. Klepatz, Chris (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
5. ROSSI, Anthony (UK) vs. Haley, John (CSU) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
6. JOMBY, Tom (UK) vs. Ford, Matt (CSU) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #19 QUIGLEY, Eric/COX, Brad (UK) vs. Fox, Rob/HALEY, John (CSU) 5-4, unfinished
2. MUSIALEK, Alex/ROSSI, Anthony (UK) def. GOOSSENS, Yannick/KLEPATZ, Chris (CSU) 8-4
3. JOMBY, Tom/GONZALEZ, Alberto (UK) def. FORD, Matt/KUELKER, Matt (CSU) 8-0