A Look at the Week Ahead in Cleveland State Athletics

A LOOK AT WHAT’S HAPPENING

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
•    Cleveland State finished the season at the Horizon League Tournament last weekend, falling in a first round contest against Northern Kentucky. The Vikings finished the year with a 9-20 overall record.
•    Ashanti Abshaw and Brooke Smith picked up postseason honors from the Horizon League, as Abshaw was named the Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-League Second Team, while Smith was named to the All-Defensive Team.

MEN’S & WOMEN’S FENCING
•    The Vikings closed the season at the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Saturday at Ohio State. Griffin Winterman had CSU’s top finish with a sixth place finish in the epee, while senior Paul Duchow was 10th.
•    Matthew Gebbett had a strong showing with an eighth place finish in the saber, while freshman Adam Mack recorded a ninth place showing in the foil and freshman Alex Hoirup finished 12th in the foil.
•    The women were led by Sarah Mok who placed 14th in the foil, while Caitlin Thompson was 17th.

SOFTBALL
•    CSU (4-12) concludes its spring trip with doubleheaders at Baylor on Tuesday and UT-Arlington on Thursday and a single game at Memphis on Saturday.
•    The Vikings dropped three games at the Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic over the weekend. Erica McNew paced the CSU offense, hitting .857 (6-7) with two runs, two doubles a home run and two RBI.
•    Katelind Phillips had five hits in the three games, while Alyson Broschk drove in two runs.

MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING
•    After posting a variety of NCAA “B” Cut times at the Horizon League Championship last month, Philipp Sikatzki has been invited to the NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championship. Sikatzki will be swimming in the 100 Butterfly and the 100 Backstroke.
•    Sikatzki’s seed time of 45.90 in the 100 fly ranks 11th among Division I swimmers, while his time of 46.41 in the 100 back ranks 27th overall.

MEN’S TENNIS
•    The Vikings (9-7) will continue their annual Spring Break Trip with one final match this week, traveling to Florida Tech for a 1:00 p.m. contest on Tuesday, March 15.
•    Cleveland State opened its Spring Break Trip last weekend, dropping a pair of matching 6-1 contests against Army and UCF.
•    Joe VanMeter notched his 70th career singles win against Army, becoming the seventh Viking all-time to record 70 career singles victories, ranking seventh on the all-time singles wins list in CSU history.

WOMEN’S TENNIS
•    Cleveland State will play two matches this week, entering its annual Spring Break Trip with a 4-5 record. The Vikings will face Florida Tech (Tuesday, March 15) and UCF (Wednesday, March 16) this week.
•    Last time out the Vikings picked up a thrilling 4-3 victory over Akron in the first-ever match to be played in the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion – Cleveland State’s new on-campus indoor facility.
•    Junior Princess Gbadamosi led the Vikings against the Zips, picking up her first singles win of the spring at No. 3 singles and teamed up with Mathilde Orange for a victory at No. 3 doubles.

WRESTLING
•    Riley Shaw and Sam Wheeler will represent CSU at the NCAA Championships, which take place from Thursday through Saturday (March 17-19) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
•    Shaw, who is 28-5 this season and was ranked as high as seventh in the nation, will compete against No. 4 seeded Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State in the first round. Wheeler, who is 28-8 this year, will open nationals against sixth-seeded Jared Haught of Virginia Tech.

VIKING OF THE WEEK

Erica McNew, Softball, Senior, Canton, Ohio

McNew hit .857 (6-7) with two runs, two doubles, a homer, two RBI and four walks in three games at the Mizuno Classic. She had two hits in every game and had a 1.571 slugging percentage and a .909 on-base percentage. McNew reached base safely in her first seven plate appearances of the Classic.

OTHER TOP PERFORMERS – NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP VERSION

Riley Shaw: The senior heavyweight wrestler qualified for the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career after winning his second straight EWL title.

Philipp Sikatzki: The junior men’s swimmer was invited to the NCAA Championship after posting NCAA “B” cut times in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

Sam Wheeler: The senior 197-pounder earned a spot at the NCAA Championships for the second time in his career after earning a runner-up finish at the EWL Championship.

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, MARCH 15
Women’s Tennis at Florida Tech, 1:00 pm
Men’s Tennis at Florida Tech, 1:00 pm
Softball at Baylor, 5:00 pm (DH)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16
Women’s Tennis at UCF, 10:00 am

THURSDAY, MARCH 17
Wrestling at NCAA Championship, All Day
Softball at UT-Arlington, 1:00 pm (DH)

FRIDAY, MARCH 18
Wrestling at NCAA Championship, All Day

SATURDAY, MARCH 19
Wrestling at NCAA Championship, All Day
Softball at Memphis, 1:00 pm