Michigan State University
Miami Ohio
Women's Tennis Cruises Past Miami of Ohio, 6-1
2/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 8, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team defeated Miami 6-1 on Saturday (Feb. 8) in East Lansing to improve its overall record to 5-3 on the season. The Spartans concluded a six-match homestand in which they went 5-1 with their only loss coming against No. 72 Eastern Michigan. The Spartans will kick off their Big Ten season as they travel to Columbus next Friday (Feb. 14) to face No. 41 Ohio State and to University Park on Sunday (Feb. 16) to face the Nittany Lions of Penn State.
The Spartans struggled early Saturday in doubles competition as they went down early before rallying back to win all three matches to claim the doubles point. Junior Caroline Lay (Brisbane, Australia) and sophomore Keri Thompson (Clark Lake, Mich.) picked up another win as they slid past Miami's Megan Zimpfer and Brooke Peyton 8-6 in the No. 1 doubles spot. Freshmen Jean Willman (Alberton, Australia) and Shelley Brady (Grand Blanc) bounced back from their first loss of the season Friday (Feb. 7) to defeat Nancy Wiegand and Remy Swain 9-7 in the No. 2 spot. They are now 6-1 in doubles competition. Sophomores Kate Thomas (Long Beach, Calif.) and Karen Gustafson (East Lansing) found themselves in another close match as they rallied to a 9-7 win against Ilze Meyer and Maura Trauernicht at the No. 3 doubles position.
"When we weren't being aggressive is when we found ourselves in trouble," said Gustafson. "Coach (Bauer) came out and told us to start moving at the net and once we did that we were able to regain our focus and come out with a win."
The Spartans turned things around in singles competition as they picked up five out of six points, dropping only nine games to Miami in those five wins.
"It's good to see that even when we are down early like we were today in doubles we can get back to our game plan and could rebound to win all three doubles matches," said MSU assistant coach Brett Page.
The Spartans dedicated their two wins over the weekend to the family of ?sa Lid?n. Lid?n, a senior on the team, could not be present this weekend due to a tragedy in her family. The Spartan program expresses their deepest condolences to the Lid?n family.
Final Results
Feb. 8, 2003MSU def. Miami-Ohio 6-1MSU Indoor Tennis Facility, East Lansing
Singles1. Caroline Lay (MSU) def. Megan Zimpfer (MU) 6-3, 6-12. Jean Willman (MSU) def. Brooke Peyton (MU) 6-0, forfeit3. Nancy Wiegand (MU) def. Shelley Brady (MSU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)4. Keri Thompson (MSU) def. Remy Swain (MU) 6-1, 6-15. Kate Thomas (MSU) def. Grace Cascarilla (MU) 6-0, 6-26. Karen Gustafson (MSU) def. Ilze Meyer (MU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles1. Lay/Thompson (MSU) def. Zimpfer.Peyton (MU) 8-62. Willman/Brady (MSU) def. Wiegand/Swain (MU) 9-73. Thomas/Gustafson (MSU) def. Meyer/Trauernicht (MU) 9-7
Players Mentioned
