Vikings Fall at Kentucky, 4-0, in NCAA Tournament

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Playing in the NCAA tournament for the third straight season, the Cleveland State men's tennis team saw its season come to an end with a 4-0 setback at 11th-ranked Kentucky in a first round match on Saturday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

It is the second straight year that the Vikings fell in the opening round at Kentucky.

The Wildcats advance to the second round and will face Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets defeated Binghamton in Saturday's other first round match.

The Wildcats earned the doubles point and singles victories at Nos. 1, 2 and 5 singles to advance to the second round for the seventh time since 2000 and improve to 24-8 this season.

CSU concludes its season with a 20-7 mark, tying the school record for wins in a season.

"This is our third year in the NCAA Tournament in a row and we felt that we gave ourselves a chance today," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We have battled hard every year in the tournament and this year was better than last year. It was probable that we were going to lose this match but we looked around and thought that we saw four points out there.

"I want to congratulate Kentucky because they played great but I am really proud of our effort. Our seniors, Ryan Hamning and Phil Orno have led this team all four years and they wanted to extend this season. Even though we were playing Kentucky, the No. 12 team in the nation, we thought that we had a chance and just didn't quite get it done today. It has been a record breaking season for us and I am proud of our accomplishments.

"We lose Ryan and Phil at Nos. 1 and 3 singles and they have also been our No. 1 doubles and whenever we needed a point they have come through. But we have everyone else coming back next year and we have good depth. We should be able to hold our depth in conference and we have some guys that I am comfortable can move towards the top and be successful. We are losing some experience but, it's nothing that we can't improve on."

Courtesy of Cleveland State Sports Information