HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky's men's and women's tennis teams host Horizon League rivals Cleveland State and Youngstown State this weekend, with the Vikings coming to Highland Heights on Saturday, April 1, while the Penguins will square off with the Norse on Sunday, April 2. On both days, the women will start competition at 11 a.m. ET, followed by the men at 2:30 p.m. All four matches are scheduled to be played at Joyce Yeager Tennis Complex on the NKU campus.
LAST TIME OUT: The men and the women are both coming off 4-3 losses in their most recent outings, with the men falling to Green Bay on March 26 while the women dropped a nonconference mid-week match to Rhode Island on March 30. On the men's side,
Mate Virag claimed a straight-set victory over Florian Kraenzler in No. 1 singles, while
Javier Araya won the No. 2 singles match by retirement. The Norse also won the doubles point with a 7-5 win from Virag and
Lukas Clemens in the No. 1 spot while Araya and
Andrew Niehaus blanked their opponent in the No. 3 match. The women had a pair of straight-set wins in No. 1, 4 and 6 singles from Margita Sunjic, Katja Dijanezevic and Sierra Nellessen, while the three dropped singles matches all went into a tiebreak set. Rhode Island claimed the doubles point with wins in No. 2 and 3 despite a dominant performance from Sunjic and Klara Skopac in the No. 1 spot with a 6-1 win.
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings' women's team is one of two teams tied for the top spot in the League after opening last weekend with a 2-0 record over UIC and Valparaiso. Two-time reigning HL Player of the Week Isabella Spindler, last season's Freshman of the Year, has been holding down the No. 1 singles spot for CSU and is riding a three-match winning streak.
On the men's side, Cleveland State split its opening weekend with a win over UIC before being blanked by League favorite Valpo. The Vikings' lineup is topped by freshman Nico Mostardi, who has compiled an 8-8 record in the spring. Cleveland State has not shied away from staunch competition this year, as the team butted heads with No. 3 Ohio State to open up the season as well as No. 41 Rice as its tune-up before League play.
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The YSU women's team was tabbed the preseason favorite in the League, but did not fare as well as Cleveland State in its opening weekend after falling 4-3 to UIC before blanking Valpo. Overall, the team is 7-8 after going through a rough patch in February that saw a five-match losing skid. The Penguins' lineup is headlined by 2016 Player of the Year Dominika Lackova in her senior season, who rides a five-match winning streak in the No. 1 spot heading into the weekend.
Youngstown State's men had a similar opening weekend to CSU, suffering a 7-0 defeat at the hands of Valparaiso before picking up the first League win of the year over UIC. The Penguins have seen shuffling in the bottom four of the singles lineup, but it has been Mitch Maroscher and Matthew Kritzinger holding the No. 1 and 2 spots for the entire season. Maroscher has gone 12-4 in the No. 1 spot, but Kritzinger has struggled with just three wins this season and rides an eight-match losing streak entering this week's League play.
For more information on NKU's men's and women's tennis program, follow the team on Twitter @NKUNorseTennis or at facebook.com/nkunorsetennis.
