Men's Tennis Releases Tough 2002-03 Season Schedule
8/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Aug. 30, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 2002-03 Michigan State men's tennis team will look to continue its success from last season with an eventful fall tournament and spring dual match schedule. Its competition includes 14 contests against opponents that were ranked in the final 2001-02 Omni Hotels ITA poll and three trips to Minnesota.
Four tournaments highlight the fall schedule for MSU, who return many of its top players including junior Chris Mitchell (Ann Arbor, Mich.), sophomore Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and seniors Jimmy McGuire (Columbus, Ohio) and Adam Hourani (Lansing, Mich.). The Green and White will make its annual trip to open the season to the Ball State Invitational Sept. 27-29 and then travel to the Minnesota Invitational Oct. 11-13. The ITA Midwest Regional tournament, hosted by Wisconsin Oct. 24-28, and the Big Ten Indoors, hosted by Minnesota Nov. 16-18, will also be underlined by head coach Gene Orlando and his players.
The Spartans, who opened last year's spring campaign with a 7-1 mark and was as high as No. 54 in the nation, return to dual match action when they take on Butler and Wright State at home Jan. 18. The team's first match against a 2001-02 ranked opponent will arrive Feb. 8 when DePaul invades East Lansing. Always a major contender for the NCAA Championship, Notre Dame also will venture to Michigan State Feb. 19, four days before the Spartans travel the state of Ohio to take on Virginia Commonwealth in Columbus and Cleveland State on the shores of Lake Erie.
Michigan State travels to Arkansas (March 4), Tulsa (March 6) and Oklahoma (March 8) for spring break and returns home March 22 to face new rival Penn State in the Big Ten opener. But the main rivalry with Michigan will continue April 2 at the MSU Tennis Facility. The match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.
The season will conclude when Northwestern hosts the Big Ten Championships April 24-27.