Cleveland State, UIC Fall in Opening Round of NCAA Tennis Tournaments

INDIANAPOLIS – Cleveland State and UIC both saw their seasons come to an end on Friday afternoon, each falling 4-0 in the NCAA Tennis Tournaments. The Vikings, making their fifth appearance in six years on the men’s side, were knocked off by No. 5 Ohio State; meanwhile, in their 15^th consecutive berth in the women’s tournament, the Flames were dropped, 4-0, by Northwestern.

"We really fought hard today - we were competing on all three doubles courts and all six singles courts, but we were simply defeated by a better team," head coach Brian Etzkin said in a release.

"We had spots where we were in some of the matches, but we just couldn't capitalize. Our No. 2 doubles team had a great showing before their match was suspended and Matt Kuelker was also really battling at No. 2 singles before his match was called. I'm very proud of this team and all that they have accomplished this season and hopefully we can work hard against next year and put ourselves in this position again and improve on our performance."

The Buckeyes were able to get on the board early, picking up a quick point following doubles action. Ohio State earned victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, while CSU's No. 2 doubles team of Kuelker and Nolan Marks was leading 5-4 before the match was suspended.

Ohio State then added to their lead with a victory at No. 1 singles and gained a 3-0 advantage with a victory at No. 4 singles. The Buckeyes then clinched the match with a win at No. 6 singles - suspending action at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 positions.

UIC suffered a similar fate, competing against No. 11 Northwestern, but ultimately coming up short.

"Northwestern is a talented team, they are very disciplined and they made more balls than we did today," head coach Shannon Tully said in a release. "It was a good fight. We did the best that we could and we were just happy to have the opportunity to compete in the NCAAs. We will train this summer and look forward to getting back into practice again next season."

Starting the match off in doubles, Northwestern came out quick and took two wins from UIC to claim the first point of the day.  Haley Craig and Mariana Palacios battled No. 14 Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton at No. 1, but fell 8-2, while Natalia Kuvakina and Ann-Sophie Hahn went down, 8-1, at No. 3 to Belinda Niu and Kate Turvy.

Jana Knoppe and Kathryn Sharples also competed in doubles at No. 2, but had their match go unfinished with Veronica Corning and Alicia Barnett after the point was decided.

The Flames had the match come to an end after three points were taken in singles by the Wildcats in two sets. Palacios challenged No. 57 Turvy at No. 2, but was blanked in a 6-0, 6-0 decision. Kuvakina was unable to fend off Niu at No. 3, where she suffered a 6-4, 6-1 loss, as the match was then decided at No. 6 after Keti Mebuke was taken out by Hamilton, 6-2, 6-1.

Also competing, Craig was down 6-2, 4-2 against Corning at No. 1 before the match went unfinished, while Knoppe was in a close second set at No. 4 with Abu Mushrefova, 6-1, 5-4, and also went unfinished. Sharples battled back against Barnett at No. 5 after falling 6-4 in her first set to come back in the second and hold a 3-2 lead before the match was left stranded.

With its season concluded, UIC was able to capture their 17th-consecutive Horizon League Championship and make their 15th-straight NCAA appearance, all while collecting an overall singles record of 115-84, 80-45 during the dual season, and a doubles record of 46-47, 38-24 in the dual season.

Knoppe led all players with 24 wins and ended the season by going 8-2 in her last 10 matches.  Craig, the lone senior, will graduate with a career singles record of 35-27, 12-5 against Horizon League opponents, and a doubles record of 42-27, 15-3 HL.

No. 5 Ohio State 4, Cleveland State 0
Doubles:
1.Kobelt/Smith (OSU) def. Shabib/Jonsson (CSU), 8-2
2.McCarthy/Engelen (OSU) vs. Kuelker/Marks (CSU), 4-5, unf.
3.Rola/Metkz (OSU) def. van der Vloet/VanMeter (CSU), 8-1

Singles:
1.Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Jorg van der Vloet (CSU), 6-1, 6-2
2.Peter Kobelt (OSU) vs. Matt Kuelker (CSU), 6-4, 1-1, unf.
3.Connor Smith (OSU) vs. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-0, 3-2, unf.
4.Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Niklas Jonsson (CSU), 6-3, 6-1
5.Chris Diaz (OSU) vs. Nolan Marks (CSU), 6-1, 5-2, unf.
6.Constantin Christ (OSU) def. Joe VanMeter (CSU), 6-1, 6-1

Northwestern 4, UIC 0
Doubles:
1. No. 14 Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton (NU) def. Haley Craig/Mariana Palacios (UIC) 8-2
2. Veronica Corning/Alicia Barnett (NU) vs. Jana Knoppe/Kathryn Sharples (UIC) 7-2 unfinished
3. Belinda Niu/Kate Turvy (NU) def. Natalia Kuvakina/Ann-Sophie Hahn (UIC) 8-1
Order of Finish: 1, 3

Singles:
1. Veronica Corning (NU) vs. Haley Craig (UIC) 6-2, 4-2 unfinished
2. No. 57 Kate Turvy (NU) def. Mariana Palacios (UIC) 6-0, 6-0
3. Belinda Niu (NU) def. Natalia Kuvakina (UIC) 6-4, 6-1
4. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) vs. Jane Knoppe (UIC) 6-1, 5-4 unfinished
5. Alicia Barnett (NU) vs. Kathryn Sharples (UIC) 6-4, 2-3 unfinished
6. Nida Hamilton (NU) def. Keti Mebuke (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 6