Aug. 13, 2002

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State Director of Athletics Lee Reed has announced the hiring of Brian Etzkin as the Vikings' new men's and women's head tennis coach. Etzkin spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Michigan State. He replaces Sandy Geringer, who served as the interim head coach for the 2001-02 season.

"I am excited to have a coach of Brian's caliber join our athletic family," said Reed. "His knowledge of the game and enthusiasm for tennis will benefit our student-athletes and the city of Cleveland."

While at Michigan State, Etzkin assisted with all aspects of coaching the men's team, including serving as recruiting coordinator. In addition, he served as the Assistant Tennis Pro at the Indoor Tennis Facility at MSU and was the Head Tennis Pro at Walnut Hills Country Club. Prior to his time working with the Spartans, Etzkin spent two seasons as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's teams at Western Illinois (1998-00).

This summer, he coached the Midwest Junior Davis Cup team to the national championship in Columbia, S.C. (July 26-30).

"I'm excited to be at Cleveland State," said Etzkin. "I hope to build a program that the people of Cleveland can be proud of. This is a great tennis city and I want develop a strong tennis family to support the Vikings."

A United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Certified Teaching Pro, Etzkin attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he earned four varsity tennis letters. While playing for the Salukis, Etzkin was a two-time Academic All-Missouri Valley Conference and GTE Academic All-American and was the team captain for three years. He received a bachelor of arts in psychology in 1998 from SIU and was awarded a master's degree in sport management from Western Illinois in 2000.

Born in Cleveland, Etzkin grew up in nearby Wooster, Ohio and still has family in the area.