MSU Wraps Up Its Regular Season Schedule This Weekend
4/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 17, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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Michigan State Spartans(14-9 overall, 2-6 Big Ten)Head coach Gene Orlando, 14th SeasonCareer: 155-195, MSU: 124-155.This weekd for the Spartans:Sat. @ Purdue, Sun. @ Indiana.No. 44 Purdue University(9-10 overall, 4-4 Big Ten)Head coach Tim Madden, 9th SeasonCareer: 142-102, Purdue: 108-81.This week for the Boilermakers:Sat. vs. MSU, Sun. vs. Michigan.Indiana University(6-14 overall, 0-8 Big Ten)Head coach Ken Hydinger, 18th SeasonCareer: 336-233-1, Indiana: 270-188-1.This week for the Hoosiers:Sat. vs. Michigan, Sun. vs. MSU.
NEXT IN LINE: The regular season comes to a close this weekend as Michigan State will look to climb the Big Ten standings against Purdue and Indiana. Both matches will be crucial in determining what seed the Spartans will receive for the Big Ten Championships. Purdue enters the week coming off losses to Penn State and Ohio State. Scott Mayer and Derek Miller have led the Boilermakers in singles while Mayer has teamed up with Dan Swan in doubles. Indiana is in the midst of an 11-match losing streak, including eight in the Big Ten. Six of these matches were a final score of 6-1, four were 5-2 and one was 4-3. The Hoosiers have not been shutout this season.
SUMMARY OF No. 57 IOWA: Suffering from a 4-3 upset at the hands of Penn State a week earlier, Michigan State was in search of an upset itself when it faced No. 57 Iowa Saturday, April 13, in the last home contest of the season. The Spartans opened the match with a 1-0 lead after Adam Hourani and Jimmy McGuire served their way to an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles and Andrew Formanczyk and Chris Mitchell picked up their first Big Ten win with an 8-2 triumph at No. 3. MSU then earned a dramatic split at singles to improve its conference record to 2-6. Jimmy McGuire cruised to his 17th singles win by giving up only five games at No. 3. Mitchell and Eric Simonton proceeded to secure the match with three set victories at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively.
BIG TEN SEEDINGS: If the Spartans can come away with two wins and receive a little help, MSU can earn as high as a No. 6 seed for the Big Ten Championships. If the season ended today, Michigan State would receive the No. 9 seed and face Penn State in the first round.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Spartans enjoyed their best home record since head coach Gene Orlando's first year at the helm as MSU went 11-3 (.786) this season. During the 1991-1992 campaign, State went 8-1 (.889) in East Lansing.
NO RESPECT: Even though Michigan State upset then-No. 57 Iowa (now No. 58) April 13, the new April 17 rankings do not include MSU for the second straight week. The Spartans enjoyed eight consecutive weeks in the rankings before dropping out after losses to Ohio State and Penn State.