Sept. 21, 2008

Contact: Dana Ingraham

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- CSU newcomers were a force to be reckoned with this weekend at the Bowling Green Invitational.

Catrine Bjerrehus and Myra Pepino won their championship singles matches at the No. 3 and No. 5 flights respectively and Molly Drake notched a second place finish at No. 8 as CSU wrapped up its second weekend of fall tournament play.

Bjerrehus, who remains unbeaten in singles play thus far in her collegiate career, defeated Juliana Frey of Eastern Illinois 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Pepino also went 3-0 in singles this weekend and defeated Bowling Green's Libby Harrison 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 for the first place finish.

"Catrine is off to a great start, she deserves a lot of credit," said CSU head coach Brian Etzkin. "Myra also had a great three set win today. She has been improving more and more each day since she arrived at Cleveland State."

Returners Denisa Muntean and Sanda Bjelan also earned second and third place finishes in their individual flights.

The strong singles finish for CSU came after a shaky second day of doubles. Although the Vikings finished no less than fourth place in any of their flights, Etzkin was not as pleased with the overall effort this time around.

"We didn't finish as strongly in doubles as I would have liked," he said. "The effort was there, but we need to work on the energy a little bit more. Little mistakes cost us early, so we talked about regrouping and finishing strong, and I think we were able to do that here today."

CSU won five out of its last seven matches on the day to finish strong and leave its mark on the tournament.

The women will return to action this weekend (Sept. 27) to compete in the Michigan State Spartan Invitational.

2008 Bowling Green Invitational
Final Day Results

Singles Flight "1"
Charlotte Gibbons (CSU) def. Kelsey Jakupcin (BGSU), 7-5, 2-6, 10-7
(Gibbons finished fifth)

Singles Flight "2"
Melissa Holzinger withdrew from tournament due to injury.

Singles Flight "3"
Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU) def. Juliana Frey (Eastern Ill.), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
(Bjerrehus finished first)

Singles Flight "4"
Jackie Tabb (CSU) def. Svetlana Flankova (Detroit), 6-1, 6-1
(Tabb finished fifth)

Singles Flight "5"
Myra Pepino (CSU) def. Libby Harrison (BGSU), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
(Pepino finished first)

Singles Flight "6"
Kelsey Kinnard (Xavier) def. Denisa Muntean (CSU), 6-4, 6-4
(Muntean finished second)

Singles Flight "7"
Sanda Bjelan (CSU) def. Jeremie Benjamin (Akron), 6-1, 6-2
(Bjelan finished third)

Singles Flight "8"
Shannon Brooks (Eastern Ill.) def. Molly Drake (CSU), 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4
(Drake finished second)

Doubles Flight "1"
Harutyunyan/Castro Cota (Akron) def. Gibbons/Bjerrehus (CSU), 9-7
Courtney/Feider (Xavier) def. Gibbons Bjerrehus (CSU), 9-7
(Gibbons/Bjerrehus finished fourth)

Doubles Flight "2"
Holzinger/Tabb (CSU) def. Baronayte/Gombara (Akron,) 9-8(5)
Kinnard/Treece (Xavier) def. Holzinger/Tabb (CSU), 8-4
(Holzinger/Tabb finished second)

Doubles Flight "3"
Bjelan/Pepino (CSU) def. Menoff/Harrison (BGSU), 9-8(7)
Ismail/Wise (Cincinnati) def. Bjelan/Pepino (CSU), 8-4
(Bjelan/Pepino finished second)

Doubles Flight "4"
Maricevic/Flankova (Detroit) def. Muntean/Drake (CSU), 8-3
Lanc/Patten (YSU) def. Muntean/Drake (CSU), 8-7(6)
(Muntean/Drake finished fourth)