Three Nationally Ranked Teams Await Men's Tennis
2/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 19, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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No. 62 Michigan State Spartans (7-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten)Head coach Gene Orlando, 14th Season,Career: 148-187, Michigan State: 117-147.No. 7 University of Notre Dame(9-3 overall, 0-0 Big East)Head coach Bob Bayliss, 33rd Season,Career: 552-218, Notre Dame (15): 270-124.This week for the Fighting Irish:Wed. @ #62 Michigan StateNo. 49 Northwestern University(6-3 overall, 1-0 Big Ten)Head coach Paul Torricelli, 19th Season,Career: 277-191, Northwestern: SameThis week for the Wildcats:Sat. @ #62 Michigan State, Sun. @ #45 MichiganNo. 2 University of Illinois (6-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten)Head coach Craig Tiley, 9th SeasonThis week for the Fighting Illini:Sat. @ #45 Michigan, Sun. @ #62 Michigan State
NEXT IN LINE: The Spartans will be entering arguably their toughest week on their schedule beginning Wednesday (Feb. 20) at No. 7 Notre Dame. This will be MSU's first match since February 10 when it defeated Louisville and Valparaiso. The Irish are 4-1 against Big Ten teams this season with their only loss coming at the hands of No. 32 Minnesota. They defeated No. 64 Wisconsin, 6-1, and No. 53 Purdue, 7-0 over the weekend. MSU will open its Big Ten season at home against No. 49 Northwestern Saturday (Feb. 23). The Wildcats are 1-0 in the Big Ten with a victory over then No. 50 Purdue at the beginning of the month. No. 2 Illinois recently participated in the National Indoor Championships where it upset No. 1 Georgia in the semifinals, but fell to No. 2 Stanford in the finals. Two Illini, Amer Delic (8) and Phil Stolt (23), are ranked in the top 25 in the nation in singles.
FOR THE FIRST TIME: No. 62 Michigan State will play its first matches of the year as a ranked team this week. The last time the Spartans were ranked was in the 2000 preseason poll at No. 56. The match at Notre Dame will also be the first road contest of the season. The Spartans visited South Bend in the fall for the Tom Fallon Invitational. Goran Topalo, Cameron Marshall and Andrew Formanczyk all posted 3-2 records.
GOOD START: With a 7-1 record, MSU has already tied last season's win total when it finished 7-18. Nine of the Spartans' 12 players are either at or above .500 in overall singles wins. Formanczyk leads the team with 16 wins while Jimmy McGuire is 7-0 in dual matches.
MUCH IMPROVED: In less than one month, State has already posted 14 more singles wins than last season (88 to 74). At number six singles, the Spartans have posted an 8-0 record, tying their mark at that position last season.