Michigan State University
Illinois
Men's Tennis Falls To No. 2 Illinois, 7-0
2/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 24, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Spartan men's tennis team concluded its toughest week of the season Sunday, February 24, with a 7-0 loss to No. 2 Illinois. The loss drops MSU to 7-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.
Coming off a 4-3 setback to No. 50 Northwestern Saturday, No. 60 Michigan State was looking to stun one of the top teams in the country. But the Fighting Illini (7-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) came out strong, winning both number one and number three doubles, 8-3. The second doubles team of juniors Chris Mitchell (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Adam Hourani (Lansing, Mich.) fought towards a tiebreaker, but ultimately fell, 9-8(4).
In singles, Michigan State was unable to win a set as Illinois dominated play throughout the day. Playing the eleventh-ranked player in the country at No. 1, Mitchell forced a second set tiebreaker with Amer Delic before losing 6-3, 7-6(3). Delic won the only break of serve of the entire match, which came in the first set. Sophomore Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) also played well at five singles.
"We've played three great teams (this week) and in every match we've had a chance," said head coach Gene Orlando. "We're definitely closing the gap and hopefully we can keep closing that gap. I don't want us to level off. (So far this season) I'd give this team a B-. Northwestern is about the fourth best team in the conference and if we would have beaten them yesterday, it would be a B+."
One bright spot that evolved from the weekend came from Hourani, who has spent the majority of his matches at three doubles. The doubles specialist was moved up one position Sunday and almost came away with a huge upset of Illinois with partner Chris Mitchell.
"Adam is certainly doing the best right now," said assistant coach Brian Etzkin. "He's really thinking on the court and producing well."
MSU will relax for a week before spring break when they travel to Louisiana. They will play three consecutive days beginning Monday, March 4, against SE Louisiana, Louisiana-Lafayette and Tulane.
Sunday's Results Against No. 2 IllinoisDoublesNo. 1 #8 Calkins/Delic (ILL) def. McGuire/Simonton (MSU) 8-3No. 2 Parker/Wilson (ILL) def. Hourani/Mitchell (MSU) 9-8(4)No. 3 Kosta/Zeder (ILL) def. Hodge/Jonckheere (MSU) 8-3
SinglesNo. 1 #11 Amer Delic (ILL) def. Chris Mitchell (MSU) 6-3, 7-6(3)No. 2 #33 Phil Stolt (ILL) def. Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) 6-2, 6-4No. 3 Mike Kosta (ILL) def. Goran Topalo (MSU) 6-0, 6-3No. 4 #127 Michael Calkins (ILL) def. Jimmy McGuire (MSU) 6-3, 6-2No. 5 #130 Nathan Zeder (ILL) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 7-6(2), 6-3No. 6 Chris Martin (ILL) def. Cameron Marshall (MSU) 6-4, 6-2No. 2 Illinois defeats No. 60 Michigan State, 7-0
