Men's Tennis Completes Fall Tournaments On A Successful Note
11/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Nov. 18, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The fall season for the Michigan State men's tennis team wrapped up similar to one year ago: Andrew Formanczyk dazzling the field at the Big Ten Singles Indoor Championships. But the sophomore from Rochester Hills was not the only Spartan who put on a show. Of the players who participated in one or more of the tournaments, over half of them either reached or climbed over the .500 winning percentage mark.
Even though he sat out the Ball State Invitational, Formanczyk posted a 3-2 record at the Omni Hotels ITA events, going 1-1 at the All-American Championships in Chattanooga and 2-1 at the Region IV tournament in Madison where he started to evolve into not just another player in the draw, but a dynamic threat to eliminate any form of competition.
Unranked to start his second season with the Green and White, Formanczyk posted two three-set wins in the regional tournament, including a huge upset over Illinois's Chris Martin, No. 88 in the nation, in the second round. Formanczyk would come within two games of pulling off another shocker as he played No. 21 Jeremy Wurtzman of Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen. Although falling, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, Formanczyk posted a strong showing against the All-Big Ten team member who would later reach the semifinals of the National Indoors in November.
Re-claiming the Big Ten Singles consolation title may have been on Formanczyk's mind when the team made its final fall trip of the season to Minnesota Nov. 16. But taking home the main draw championship looked a little more appealing. Seeded sixth for the tournament, he cruised by his first three matches, all in two sets, to reach the quarterfinals. Minnesota's Manuel Lievano, though, was making a run of his own and ended Formanczyk's fall campaign with a heartbreaking 6-1, 6-7, 7-5 win.
Fellow sophomore Cameron Marshall leads MSU in singles wins through the first three months of play. Posting an 8-7 record, almost identical to last year, Marshall finished the fall strong in both the ITA Region IV qualifying rounds and the Big Ten Singles Championships. Searching for three straight wins to reach the main draw of the regional tournament, Marshall posted wins against players from Dayton, Indiana and Notre Dame, all of which are on the dual match schedule in the spring. He would later fall to Scott Mayer of Purdue, ranked No. 72 in the country, in the first round of the main draw. But that would not deteriorate Marshall's successful weekend.
The 5-9 righty from Louisville, Ky., concluded November with an appearance in the round of 16 at the Big Ten Indoors. Marshall's big win came in the second round, upsetting Alex Kasarov of Wisconsin in three sets.
Eric Simonton cruises into winter break with seven wins under his belt. The native of Annandale, N.J., powered his way to the quarterfinals of the Ball State Invitational B bracket and also posted back-to-back wins at the Minnesota Invitational. He also reached the third round of the consolation draw at the Big Ten Indoors, defeating Purdue's Colin Foster and Michigan's Brett Baudinet along the way.
Closing the final fall seasons of their careers, Adam Hourani and Jimmy McGuire each posted personal bests for singles wins in tournament action. Hourani accumulated four straight wins to capture the Ball State Invitational B division consolation title. Two weeks later, he would pick up wins number five, six and seven against Creighton Macey of Marquette, Ross Pytko of Boston College and Joel Reckeway of Nebraska at the Minnesota Invitational.
McGuire, meanwhile, amassed six victories, three coming in the ITA regional tournament. He joined Marshall in becoming one of only eight players to escape the qualifying rounds. McGuire's wins against Wisconsin's Blake Baratz, Western Michigan's Erik Lindroos and Illinois's Evan Zeder in Madison demonstrates he will have the capabilities to execute when January rolls into town.
Chris Mitchell and Mike Brown shot out of the gate quickly in September. Mitchell advanced to the quarterfinals of the mighty A division of the Ball State Invitational and won his first round-match over Lipscomb's Dustin Overbeck at the ITA All-American Championships. Brown, the lone newcomer to the Spartan squad, gave up only one game in his first collegiate match, defeating Valparaiso's Evan Roller, 6-0, 6-1, at the BSU Invitational. He would suffer from some bad breaks at the Minnesota Invitational and the 10-point third set tiebreaker format, but was able to pick up win number two against Cesar Vargas of Nebraska, 2-6, 6-3 (10-6). But his one-handed backhand will be a dominating force as he continues to gain experience.
Mike Jonckheere finished with a 5-4 record with some big wins over non-regional foes, defeating Drake's Kirk Schuler at the BSU Invite and Boston College's Bob Murray and Nebraska's Ryan Jay at the Minnesota Invite. Josh Efros also posted some quality victories by ending the fall at 3-3 and Anthony Stefani completed the opening months of his sophomore season with two wins.
Hourani and McGuire, set to be the number one doubles team in the spring, posted strong showings in doubles. They advanced to the semifinals of the Ball State Invitational A division, but fell to eventual champions from Northern Illinois, Aaron Forsberg and Raymond Van Wasbeck. Along with the duo of Marshall and Simonton, the seniors would also win two of three matches at the Minnesota Invitational. Brown and Stefani would surprise the division C field in doubles at the BSU Invite, reaching the finals before falling to a powerful Drake tandem of Ziatko Letica and Matt McClure.
Picking up 49 singles wins and 14 doubles victories will provide Michigan State with the identity that they will be a team to watch in not only the Big Ten, but out of conference as well.
Players Mentioned
