March 25, 2009

Contact: Brian McCann

Spring Sports Take Over Focus As Weather Heats Up. . .
Dobies To Swim At NCAA Championships On Friday

With the winter sports season having just one event left, the spring sports take over the focus this week as five of the six spring sports are in action with four competing at home.

Viking junior Jakub Dobies will attempt to become the first All-American in CSU swimming history when he swims in the 100 Breast at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas on Friday (March 27).

The baseball team opened their home schedule with an 8-6 loss to Niagara on Tuesday (March 24) and will play at Bowling Green on Wednesday (March 25) and at Case Western Reserve on Friday (March 27). The Vikings close the week's schedule against Case Western Reserve on Sunday (March 29) at 1:00 p.m. at The Pipeyard in Lorain, OH.

After playing their first 21 games away from home, the Viking softball team returns to Cleveland for five scheduled home games this week. The week begins with a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader against Morehead State on Thursday (March 26). CSU then continues Horizon League play with a three-game series against Green Bay, playing two games on Saturday (March 28) starting at 1:00 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 12:00 noon. All five games will be played at Viking Field.

The men's tennis team continues its spring season by playing at Xavier on Saturday (March 28) at 12:00 noon before returning home to host Detroit on Sunday (March 29) at 2:00 p.m. at the Malaga Tennis Center.

The women's tennis team will play a road contest at Youngstown State on Friday (March 27) at 6:00 p.m. before returning home to host Detroit on Sunday (March 29) at 10:00 a.m.

The men's golf team resumes its spring slate by playing in the Ball State Invitational. The 54-hole tourney will be played on Saturday-Sunday, March 28-29 in Muncie, Ind.

Dobies To Swim At NCAA Championships. . .
Viking Junior Will Attempt To Become CSU's First Swimming All-American

Junior Jakub Dobies begins his quest for All-American honors this week when he competes in the 100 breast at the 2009 NCAA Division I Swimming Championships. Dobies is making his third straight appearance at the national championships. Dobies will take his 14th seed (52.94) to Texas A&M for the 100 breast swim on Friday, March 27.

"Jakub Dobies is physically gifted in size, flexibility, strength, quickness and he has a great ability to feel the water," head coach Wally Morton said. "He also has attention to detail in his training and a supreme confidence to reach his goals. Most importantly, he trusts his coaches and is very consistent and precise in following instructions. He is getting the most out of his opportunity to be able to perform at the highest level."

Dobies earned Mid-Major All-American honors from collegeswimming.com in 2008 and is aiming to become the first swimmer in Cleveland State and Horizon League history to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. A finish of 16th or higher will guarantee All-America status.

The Cleveland State and Horizon League record-holder in the 100 breast (52.94), Dobies is the only swimmer in league history to make the trip to the NCAA Championships since the conference adopted the Horizon League name in 2001. With his third straight league title in the 100 breast, he also became just the sixth Viking to win the same event three times in his career.

Men's Basketball Concludes Record-Setting Year With 26-11 Record . . .
Vikings Fall In Second Round Of NCAA Men's Basketball Championship

The clock struck 12 for the Cinderella run of the Viking men's basketball team in the NCAA Championships when CSU dropped a 71-57 decision to Arizona in a second round game played in Miami, Fla. on Sunday (March 22). The Vikings pulled off the upset of the tournament, crushing fourth-seeded Wake Forest, 84-69 in a first round game on Friday (March 20) to advance to the second round for the second time in school history.

"This was a memorable season," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "When we lost in the championship game of the league tourney last year, I told the team that we were capable of great things and that I expected the team to win the Horizon League and play in the NCAA Championship this year and if they weren't ready to do that, then they should get out of the locker room.

"I have to commend this team because they believed in our plan and goals and they made it happen. We had an outstanding group of seniors who we will miss terribly next year, but they made winning possible. For that, they will always have a place in the history of this program," Waters added.

Viking senior J'Nathan Bullock closed out his CSU career holding records for games played (130), games started (124), consecutive games started (106), consecutive games played (130) and minutes played (3,872). He ranks fourth in scoring (1,800) and sixth in rebounding (816), being the only player to score 1,500 points and grab 750 rebounds.

Guard Cedric Jackson saved his best basketball of the year for the end, averaging 16.0 points and 5.0 assists in the six post-season games to claim CSU season records for assists (199), steals (112) and minutes played (1,231). Sophomore Norris Cole stepped up his game as well, averaging 17.5 points in the six post-season games.

CSU will return two starters and a total of seven lettermen next season.

Women's Basketball Finishes Season At 19-13 . . .
Vikings Narrowly Miss Second Straight Post-Season Appearance

Cleveland State's women's basketball season came to an end on Friday (March 13) when the third-seeded Vikings fell to seventh-seeded Milwaukee, 63-57, in the Horizon League semifinals in Green Bay.

The Vikings concluded the season with a 19-13 mark, the second straight season CSU fell one win shy of reaching 20. In addition, CSU finished third in the regular season league standings, winning a program record 12 games.

"Although we were disappointed with how our season ended, I am so proud of the way this team battled day in and day out," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "Once again, I think we took another step forward this season and were able to sustain the success that we experienced last season. I am looking forward to see what we can accomplish next season."

The Vikings were well represented on the postseason all-league team with junior Kailey Klein earning a spot on the first team All-Horizon League for the second straight season in addition to being named the Co-Player of the Year. In addition, senior Dominique Butler and sophomore Shawnita Garland shared Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

Klein became just the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring in each of her first three seasons, posting 16.9 points per game, while Butler leaves the program as one of two players in school history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 steals. She became just the third player in league history to earn a spot on the all-defensive team in four straight seasons.

Softball Opens Home Schedule With Five Games. . .

Weather permitting, the Viking softball team will end its season-opening 21-game road swing when CSU plays five home games this week. Cleveland State opens the week by hosting Morehead State on Thursday (March 26) for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader. CSU then entertains Green Bay for a three-game league series over the weekend, playing two games on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 12:00 noon.

Cleveland State (11-10) opened league play last week by winning two of three at defending league tournament champion Wright State over the weekend.

"We are playing pretty good ball right now," third year CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We have hit the ball hard all season long and our fundamentals have been strong as well. Lately, our pitching has come around allowing us to play as well as we have all year long."

Junior pitcher Amanda Macenko went 3-1 last week with a 1.27 ERA to earn Horizon League Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time this season. She allowed only four earned runs in 28.1 innings, striking out 28 with no walks.

The long ball has been a big part of the CSU offense this year as the Vikings have hit 20 home runs, just six shy of the school record of 26 set in 2006. Junior Lia Gordon is leading the way, hitting a team-high seven homeruns, just one short of equaling the school record of eight set by Amy Jauert in 1997.

Baseball To Play A Pair Of Home Games. . .

Cleveland State (3-13) is in action four times this week, beginning with its home opener on Tuesday (March 24) when the Vikings host Niagara at 3:00 p.m. at The Pipe Yard. CSU will then travel to Bowling Green for a 3:00 p.m. contest on Friday (March 25) and also play at Case Western on Friday (March 27) at 3:00 p.m. The week concludes on Sunday (March 29) with a 1:00 p.m. home contest against Case Western.

"This is a big week for us and will be important in how the rest of the season will play out," head coach Kevin Kocks said. "We are very young and still trying to find our identity as a team. I never envisioned us being in this position so we have to figure out how to get out of this funk and win some ballgames."

The Vikings were winless last week, dropping all four games they played. The week started with a 5-2 setback at Duquesne on Tuesday (March 17) and continued with three losses at UIC in the Horizon League opening series on Friday (March 20) and Saturday (March 21).

Kyle Shaffer broke out of his offensive funk last week, going 7-for-15 (.467) with a double and a homer in last week's games. Josh Lowe had another solid week at the plate, hitting .385 (5-13) and continues to lead the team with a .405 batting average.

Wrestling Finishes Season With 4-13 Record. . .

Rashard Goff led the way for Viking wrestling this season, posting his fourth straight 20 plus win season and his fourth NCAA tournament appearance.

At the NCAA tournament, Goff recorded a 2-2 record, one of those losses, a one point loss to eventual champion Mark Ellis. Goff grabbed a slot to the NCAA tournament by hammering out a perfect 3-0 record and capturing a first place EWL championship.

Cleveland State notched four dual meet wins this season, highlighted by a 46-3 victory over Wagner, where the Vikings tallied four pins and two technical falls. The Vikings also collected wins over University of the Cumberlands (24-19), John Carroll (25-17) and Ashland University (24-15).

Even though the season record doesn't indicate much success, eight of the nine starters each had over 10 wins. Goff had a team high 32, while freshman Jordan Keller earned 23 victories.

Seniors, Antonio Nicholson added 19 wins, while JT Miller tacked on 10. A slew of young grapplers were over the double digit total as well. Rob Michaels (18), Corey Carlo (14), Lawrence Cavello (11), and Josh Palivoda (10) surpassed the 10-win total as well.

Men's Tennis Travels To Xavier, Hosts Detroit. . .

The Cleveland State men's tennis team returns to action with two matches this week, beginning with a 12:00 p.m. contest at Xavier on Saturday (March 28) and concluding with a 2:00 p.m. league contest at home against Detroit on Sunday (March 29).

"We are playing at a really high level right now and it appears that we are peaking at just the right time as we head into the heart of our conference schedule," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We pushed a nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic team to the limit and I am extremely happy with where we are at as a team right now."

CSU headed south to Florida for its annual spring break trip and split a pair of matches. The trip began with a 6-1 win over Bethune Cookman and concluded with a 4-2 setback to Florida Atlantic. Following a four hour rain delay, the teams decided to dive right into singles play and only play the doubles matches if they were necessary to break a 3-3 tie.

Robert Fox and Steven Wipprecht highlighted the trip, winning both of their singles matches at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.

Women's Tennis To Face Two League Foes. . .

Cleveland State begins Horizon League play when the Vikings travel to Youngstown State for a 6:00 p.m. match on Friday, March 27. CSU will also host Detroit in its home league opener on Sunday, March 29, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

"We are very excited to have the conference season upon us and look forward to making strides from last season," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We had a very good spring break trip to Florida and I was happy with the way we performed. We are going to work on finding a way to be more consistent and play the kind of tennis that we know we are capable of playing."

CSU went 3-1 on its recent spring break trip in Orlando, Fla., defeating North Dakota (6-1), Long Island (5-2) and Farleigh Dickinson (5-2) and falling to Coastal Carolina, 6-1.

Melissa Holzinger was the standout on the trip as she was the only Viking to win all four of her singles matches. Holzinger also went 3-1 in doubles play, dropping a close 8-7 decision at the No. 3 position.

Men's Golf To Compete At Ball State Invitational. . .

The Cleveland State men's golf team will be back in action on Saturday and Sunday (March 28-29) when the Vikings compete at the Ball State Cardinal Collegiate. The 54-hole event will be contested at the par-72, 6,859-yard Sultan's Run Golf Club.

"We really struggled at our last event and just never got anything going," head coach Steve Weir said. "We were battling some illness and injuries, but that's not an excuse to our finish. We've got to get back out to the range and straighten things out for Ball State this weekend."

The Vikings placed 13th of 14 teams at the 54-hole Desert Shootout played March 19-21 at the par-72, 7,105-yard Palm Valley Golf Course in Goodyear, Ariz.

CSU opened with a round of 287, following that up with rounds of 296 and 301. Sophomore Kent Monas paced the Vikings as he tied for 42nd overall with rounds of 68-77-72 (217).

Women's Golf Heads To Longwood Invitational. . .

Cleveland State returns to action on Monday and Tuesday (March 30-31) when the Vikings compete at the Longwood/Tina Barrett Invitational. The 36-hole event will be played at The Manor Resort Golf Club, a par-72, 6,108-yard trek in Farmville, Va.

"We got off to a sluggish start during our first spring event, but I was happy with the way we rebounded in the final round," head coach Steve Weir said. "We were only playing with four players in the third round, so that puts a little more pressure on everyone to play well since all four scores count. I was very pleased with the way we kept our composure didn't make many mental mistakes."

CSU kicked off its spring slate by finishing 10th of 12 teams at the Winthrop Invitational from Friday through Sunday (March 20-22). After opening with rounds of 358 and 359, the Vikings rebounded to shoot 342 in the final round despite playing with just four players.

Junior Katie Broere tied for 17th place with a three round total of 243 (84-80-79).

Viking High Fives

Josh Hungerman: The senior became just the second player in league history to earn Horizon League Batter and Pitcher of the Week honors in the same season.

Kailey Klein: The women's basketball junior was honored as the Horizon League Co-Player of the Year.

Cedric Jackson: The men's basketball senior made eight steals in the two NCAA games to take over the national lead with a school-record 112 steals this season.

J'Nathan Bullock: Averaged 15.2 points a game this year to become just the third player in program history to lead the team in scoring for the fourth straight season.

Kent Monas: The men's golf sophomore tied his career best round by shooting a 68 in the opening round of the Desert Shootout on March 19.

The Schedule Ahead For The Vikings

March 25 (Wednesday)
Baseball at Bowling Green
Bowling Green, OH, 3:00 p.m.

March 26 (Thursday)
Softball hosts Morehead State (2)
Viking Field, 3:00 p.m.

March 27 (Friday)
Baseball at Case Western Reserve
Cleveland, OH, 3:00 p.m.

Women's Tennis at Youngstown State
Youngstown, OH 6:00 p.m.

Men's Swimming at NCAA Championships
College Station, TX

March 28 (Saturday)
Men's Tennis at Xavier
Cincinnati, OH, 12:00 noon

Baseball hosts Case Western Reserve
Pipe Yard Stadium, 1:00 p.m.

Softball hosts Green Bay (2)
Viking Field, 1:00 p.m.

Men's Golf at Ball State Invitational
Muncie, Ind.

March 29 (Sunday)
Women's Tennis hosts Detroit
Malaga Tennis Center, 10:00 a.m.

Softball hosts Green Bay
Viking Field, 12:00 noon

Baseball hosts Case Western Reserve
Pipe Yard Stadium, 1:00 p.m.

Men's Tennis hosts Detroit
Malaga Tennis Center, 2:00 p.m.

Men's Golf at Ball State Invitational
Muncie, Ind.