Men's Tennis Looks To Capitalize On Upset Of Wisconsin
3/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 26, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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No. 54 Michigan State Spartans(12-5 overall, 1-2 Big Ten)Head coach Gene Orlando, 14th SeasonCareer: 153-191, Michigan State: 122-151.This week for the Spartans:Wed. vs WMU, Fri. @ Minnesota.Western Michigan University(10-9 overall, 1-0 MAC)Head coach Dave Morin, 11th SeasonCareer: 116-95, WMU: 74-48.This week for the Broncos:Wed. @ Michigan State.No. 17 University of Minnesota(9-4 overall, 2-1 Big Ten)Head coach David Gaetz, 18th SeasonCareer: 363-180, Minn: 242-115.This week for the Golden Gophers:Fri. vs. Michigan State.
NEXT IN LINE: No. 54 Michigan State brings a 12-5 record into this week with matches against Mid-American Conference defending tournament champion Western Michigan and Big Ten Conference powerhouse Minnesota. Wednesday's home match with WMU marks the last non-conference battle of the season for the Spartans. Ravishankar Pathanjali and Christian Brattstrom have guided the Broncos to a 10-9 record. They have defeated Butler and UW-Green Bay but are 0-4 so far against Big Ten teams this season. Minnesota, meanwhile, is led by Harsh Mankad, ranked No. 1 in the nation. Mankad won the ITA National Indoor Championships in the fall and has an 18-3 record overall. No. 83 Aleksey Zharinov and Thomas Haug have also helped the Gophers climb to No. 17 in the Division 1 rankings.
SUMMARY OF No. 49 WISCONSIN: The Spartans traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, Friday, March 22 in search of their first Big Ten victory. With strong doubles wins from Adam Hourani and Jimmy McGuire at No. 1 and Mike Jonckheere and Goran Topalo at No. 3, MSU was on its way towards its biggest win of the season. McGuire, Topalo, Andrew Formanczyk and Cameron Marshall all picked up important singles points to help Michigan State defeat Wisconsin, 5-2.
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1998: MSU has not defeated either Minnesota or Western Michigan since 1998. While they didn't play each other in 1999, the Broncos have defeated the Spartans the past two years while the Golden Gophers are on a three match winning streak over State.
CO-CAPTAIN BRILLIANCE: Adam Hourani and Jimmy McGuire teamed up against Wisconsin for the first time since the fall. With their win at No. 1 doubles, their career record at MSU now stands at 5-4.
DID SOMEONE SAY CHEESEHEAD?: In singles, Jimmy McGuire has had more success facing Wisconsin opponents than any other Spartan during the 2001-2002 campaign. He is a perfect 4-0 overall: 3-0 against the Badgers and 1-0 against UW-Green Bay. Andrew Formanczyk and Cameron Marshall each have 3-0 records versus players from the Badger state.