2002 Big Ten Championships Await Men's Tennis
4/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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April 24, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Michigan State Spartans(14-11 overall, 2-8 Big Ten)Head coach Gene Orlando, 14th SeasonCareer: 155-197, MSU: 124-157.1st Round Opponent: Penn State (11-12 overall, 3-7 Big Ten)Head coach Jan Bortner, 20th SeasonQuarterfinal Opponent(If MSU Advances): Illinois(20-4 overall, 10-0 Big Ten)Head coach Craig Tiley, 9th Season
NEXT IN LINE: The 2002 Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, is on tap for the Spartans as they will be the No. 9 seed and take on No. 8 Penn State in the first round Thursday, April 25, at 10 a.m. MSU has one of the toughest draws in the conference. It will be looking to avenge a 4-3 loss to the Nittany Lions earlier in the season. In that match, PSU opened by winning two doubles matches and split in singles for the win. Andrew Formanczyk, Jimmy McGuire and Cameron Marshall each won for the Spartans as well as the No. 3 doubles team of Mike Jonckheere and Goran Topalo. If State can advance to the quarterfinals, Illinois, who has flirted with the No. 1 national ranking, will await the Green and White.
SUMMARY OF No. 44 PURDUE, INDIANA: In search of earning the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten, Michigan State came up just short against both Purdue and Indiana last weekend, but still held on to the No. 9 seed as Wisconsin lost to Iowa and Minnesota. Andrew Formanczyk teamed up with Chris Mitchell vs. Purdue and Goran Topalo vs. Indiana for doubles wins and defeated the Boilermakers' Derek Miller at No. 2 singles. Topalo also picked up a point against Purdue's Carl McCafferty at No. 3. Adam Hourani and Jimmy Mcguire helped secure the doubles point against the Hoosiers while Cameron Marshall and Eric Simonton won at singles.
BIG TEN OUTLOOK: Illinois recently captured its sixth straight conference title when they defeated Ohio State, 7-0. But the Buckeyes are still the defending tournament champions and will face either Iowa or Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.
SINGLES SUCCESS: Four Spartans have surpassed or tied last year's high in singles wins: Cameron Marshall (25), Andrew Formanczyk (23), Jimmy McGuire (17) and Goran Topalo (15). Eric Simonton posted a 15-17 record in 2001. Although he was out this fall due to injury, Simonton currently holds an impressive 12-11 record this season.
NICE FEAT: With only the conference tournament remaining, the Spartans have won seven more matches in 2002 than last season. This is the second best increase in school history. The Spartans bettered their record by eight wins three times (1936, 1960, 1990) and seven wins twice (1947, 2002). If the Spartans defeat Penn State in the first round Thursday, they will be only the fourth Michigan State team to ever improve its record by eight wins.