DeLand, Fla. ? Tuesday quickly became a red-letter day for Head Coach Pierre Pilote's Hatter men's tennis squad (10-3) as the team learned this morning it had risen 22 places in the national rankings to #53, its highest placing ever.  The Hatters then kept the good times rolling this afternoon by edging a tough Cleveland State (10-4) team by a 4-3 score at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

Junior Serguei Boulanov (Venice, Fla.) clinched the win for Stetson with a three-set win at #5 singles over CSU's Rob West.  Boulanov came back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to hand SU its fourth point of the match.

Joey Jones (Titusville, Fla.) was a double winner as the senior teamed with freshman Chris Swanteson (Vaxjo, Sweden) to beat Brad Groleski and Chris Klepatz 8-4 at #3 doubles.  He then faced off with Groleski at the #4 singles position and defeated his Viking foe 6-4, 6-4.  The Hatters are now 13-0 on the season in #3 doubles matches.

Sophomore Hicham Laalej (Meknes, Morocco) and junior Filip Kricka (Umag, Croatia) were also straight-set singles winners for the Hatters, who have now won eight consecutive matches and are 8-0 at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

“Our team rebounded well after losing the doubles point,” Pilote said.  “My hat is off to Cleveland State, they have a strong team and will do well the rest of the season.  We've got another tough group of matches that we have to get ready for this weekend.”

The Hatters host a pair of visitors from upstate New York for non-conference matches this weekend.  Stetson faces Siena at noon on Saturday before turning around and hosting Cornell at the same time on Sunday.