Michigan State University
Northwestern
State Drops Big Ten Opener To Northwestern, 4-3
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 23, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's men's tennis team opened its Big Ten season Saturday, February 23, against Northwestern with a 4-3 loss. The No. 60 Spartans have lost their last three conference openers with their last victory coming in 1999 with a 5-2 win over Wisconsin.
MSU (7-3 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) played impressively at doubles, but No. 50 Northwestern (7-3, 2-0) was able to win two of three matches for the first point of the afternoon. Junior Jimmy McGuire (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) halted a four match losing streak at number-one doubles by easily defeating Ryan Edlefsen and Joost Hol, 8-4. Junior Chris Mitchell (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and freshman Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.) fell behind 7-3 at number-two doubles, but battled back to make it 7-5. Holding off one match point, the duo could not capitalize on three break points and dropped the match, 8-5.
With a 1-0 lead, the Wildcats quickly won three singles matches to clinch their second victory in the Big Ten this season. But Mitchell, McGuire, and freshman Cameron Marshall (Louisville, Ky.) made it close by winning at number-one, five and six singles, respectively. Mitchell won a first-set tiebreaker on his way towards a 7-6, 6-2 victory and McGuire needed two tiebreakers for his two set victory. After splitting two sets, Marshall took control of the third set and won his match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
The Spartans will return to action Sunday, February 24, when No. 2 Illinois invades East Lansing at noon.
Saturday's Results Against No. 50 NorthwesternDoublesNo. 1 McGuire/Simonton (MSU) def. Edlefsen/Hol (NW) 8-4No. 2 Bennett/Hanus (NW) def. Formanczyk/Mitchell (MSU) 8-5No. 3 Jenkins/Perrin (NW) def. Hourani/Topalo (MSU) 8-3
SinglesNo. 1 Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Ryan Edlefsen (NW) 7-6, 6-2No. 2 Thomas Hanus (NW) def. Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) 6-3, 6-3No. 3 Jamie Sahara (NW) def. Goran Topalo (MSU) 6-4, 6-4No. 4 Josh Axler (NW) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 7-6, 6-2No. 5 Jimmy McGuire (MSU) def. Chuck Perrin (NW) 7-6, 7-6No. 6 Cameron Marshall (MSU) def. Ahmed Wahla (NW) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2No. 50 Northwestern defeats No. 60 Michigan State, 4-3
