A Wild Season Comes To A Close
5/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 2, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - They started out trying to guide a team full of young talent, whose experience did not come close to that of other Big Ten leaders. Struggling through the 2000-01 season, just hoping a victory was near, Adam Hourani, Jimmy McGuire and Goran Topalo were sophomores on the Michigan State men's tennis team and had dreams of what they could do in the upcoming seasons. In 2002-03, they finally saw drastic improvements.
The Ball State Invitational sat first on the MSU schedule at the end of September, which was where some early surprises left head coach Gene Orlando and first-year assistant Albin Polonyi quite content. Although falling in the first round of the Singles B Division's main draw, Hourani, who led State in doubles victories the previous season, took care of four straight opponents en route to the consolation title. He then teamed up with McGuire to reach the semifinals of the A Division in doubles as well.
Taking part in his first collegiate tennis action, freshman Mike Brown shared the spotlight with sophomore Anthony Stefani in the Doubles C Division where they cakewalked their way to the finals, only to fall by a score of 9-7.
The Spartans were represented in the ITA All-American Pre-Qualifying Tournament as junior Chris Mitchell and sophomore Andrew Formanczyk displayed their skills to the tennis nation. Both walked away with a win in the first round and set the stage for becoming the top players in the spring.
Michigan State would see some unfamiliar teams as well as some Big Ten foes in the Minnesota Invitational in mid-October. The Spartans posted strong showings in the hidden-dual format against Marquette, Boston College and Nebraska, but only picked up a couple victories against Wisconsin and Minnesota.
A huge taste of spring dual match opponents would occur at the ITA Regional IV Tournament which got underway October 24 in Madison, Wis. With a singles qualifying bracket added to the championships, two Spartans took full advantage. McGuire and sophomore Cameron Marshall won three straight matches to lock up a spot in the main draw. Formanczyk, meanwhile, was already selected to compete with the top 64 players in the region but faced a horrific draw. Needing three-sets to dispose of Indiana's Viktor Libal and Illinois's Chris Martin, Formanczyk reached the Sweet Sixteen and faced Ohio State's top player, Jeremy Wurtzman. Even though Formanczyk was not seeded for the tournament and Wurtzman controlled the No. 1 seed, Formanczyk took Wurtzman to the limit and almost pulled off the upset, but fell 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
The final tournament of the fall was the Big Ten Singles Championships, and once again Formanczyk shined. This time boasting a No. 6 seed out of 64 student-athletes, he advance to the quarterfinals, including a win over Minnesota's Chris Wettengel. Not to be completely outdone, Marshall also made his presence felt by posting an upset win over Wisconsin's top player, Alex Kasarov, in the second round. He would fall to Illinois's Ryler Deheart in the next round, but Marshall seemed ready to make the change from No. 6 singles to No. 3 singles in the spring.
Although State was coming off a 14-12 record the previous season, the Spartans were hoping to improve on their ninth-place Big Ten finish. The dual-match season opened in mid-January and sent a scare across the MSU team. Eventual Horizon League champion Butler won the doubles point for an early 1-0 lead in the first match of the year, but Mitchell, Marshall and Hourani all won in singles. Junior Eric Simonton also grabbed a victory that started a seven-match winning streak as well a season he would not forget.
Cruising past Wright State, Toledo and Dayton, No. 46 Western Michigan stood in MSU's way of its fifth consecutive victory. After losing two of three doubles matches, State came-from-behind and sealed the match, 4-3, with a victory by senior Goran Topalo at No. 5. Topalo also opened his spring season with an impressive eight-match winning streak.
With three 7-0 triumphs over Valparaiso, DePaul and Xavier, a season of heartbreaks was just around the corner. Another future conference champion in Ball State and always-powerful Notre Dame both edged the Spartans, 4-3. The Cardinals had the fortune of playing MSU without Formanczyk and the Fighting Irish won the final three singles matches after trailing to State, 3-1.
Coach Orlando earned one more win with a 7-0 victory over former assistant coach Brian Etzkin and Cleveland State after MSU's match with highly-skilled Virginia Commonwealth had been canceled.
The Spartans' spring break trip held three opportunities to solidify them as a top team in the country, but Arkansas, Tulsa and Oklahoma all ran away with victories, leaving State with a 9-5 overall record.
Coming off disappointing losses, Michigan State met No. 22 Ohio State in the Big Ten opener. While the Buckeyes knocked off the Spartans last season, 7-0, MSU's chance of turning itself into a Big Ten contender again was riding high as Orlando's squad held its ground against OSU. The Green and White tied the score three times, but fell in the final singles match.
The Spartans then came out flat against Penn State in a 5-2 loss and would complete their non-conference schedule with another 5-2 loss, this time against Louisville, two days later. One of the bright spots, however, came from Simonton as his victory over the Nittany Lions began a career-best 11-match winning streak that would last the remainder of the season.
The tide would begin to change in the Big Ten as MSU secured its first conference win of the season with a 4-3 triumph over Iowa, March 28. Formanczyk, Topalo, McGuire and Simonton all earned singles wins after State fell behind 1-0.
A 6-1 loss to Minnesota would not shatter State's confidence heading into the rivalry match with Michigan April 2. A 10-year, 12-match losing streak would come to an end as State knocked off UM, 5-2. MSU swept the doubles point, including a victory from senior co-captains Hourani and McGuire at No. 2, and picked up singles points from McGuire and Topalo as well as Mitchell and Simonton.
The surprising Indiana Hoosiers were early contenders for the conference crown, but State dominated play in a 6-1 victory. The top-ranked Fighting Illini of Illinois stood in State's way of three straight wins. Illinois scored a 5-2 victory, but singles wins by Topalo and Simonton tied the most points given up by the Illini during the regular season.
Purdue inched closer to an NCAA tournament at-large bid with a 5-2 win over MSU that sent Coach Orlando looking for answers as to why his team could compete with some of the top teams in the nation but would falter against others. Some of these answers came in the final weekend of the regular season.
Tied for fifth with Northwestern and Indiana, Michigan State was looking to end the season with victories over the Wildcats and Wisconsin to lock up a first-round bye in the conference tournament. It would succeed as State won the doubles point in both matches and Formanczyk, Topalo and Simonton each won two singles matches and Marshall added his spark against the Badgers for another point.
Now that fifth place was secured, State began its search for an NCAA Tournament berth by way of the Big Ten Tournament. Facing the Boilermakers in the second round, State came back from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 win and erased Purdue's shot of an at-large selection. MSU moved on to the semifinals to face Illinois but the run would fall short as the top-seed and eventual champion Fighting Illini grabbed a 4-0 victory.
State's ranking after the Big Ten Championships only moved up four spots from No. 59 to No. 55 as former opponents suffered tough losses and a couple of bubble-teams made headlines in their respective conference tournaments. Due to only 33 at-large selections up for grabs, State could not gain a spot for the first time in school history in the NCAA Championships.
Even though their postseason came to a halt at the Big Ten Championships, the Spartans grew heavily as a team and accomplished many feats during the 2002-03 season. Their 15-12 record marked only the sixth time in the program's history that State accumulated 15 or more wins for a season. It was also the first time since 1993 that MSU was not shutout in any match during the regular season. Its fifth-place Big Ten finish was the highest ranking since the 1996 campaign and it was nationally ranked for 16 of 27 contests, with the highest coming in the April 28 poll at No. 55.
Michigan State also posted an overall record of 143-119 in singles matches, including a 36-35 mark in Big Ten play. Simonton led the way with a 26 wins while Marshall posted 22 victories. The seniors all finished with records of at least .500 as Hourani went 14-8, McGuire 18-18 and Topalo 16-7. Topalo at one point even entered the individual rankings at No. 120 in early March.
The doubles tandem of Marshall and Simonton posted a team-best 18 wins with the Formanczyk and Mitchell duo next in line with 14 wins. Overall, State boasted a 56-45 record, with Simonton once again leading all student-athletes with 19 doubles victories.
Several Spartans posted single-season career-bests in singles and doubles. Hourani, McGuire, Topalo, Simonton and redshirt sophomore Josh Efros eclipsed their victory mark for overall singles wins while McGuire, Topalo, Simonton and Formanczyk set career-highs in Big Ten victories. In doubles, McGuire, Efros, Mitchell, Simonton, Formanczyk, Marshall and sophomore Anthony Stefani all breezed past their former best records in overall victories. Meanwhile, Mitchell, Simonton, Formanczyk and Marshall all set new marks in conference tallies. Also, junior Mike Jonckheere went undefeated in dual match play, posting a 3-0 record in both singles and doubles.
Spartan standouts also won two special Big Ten awards. Mitchell earned Player of the Week honors on April 9 for his accomplishments over Michigan and Indiana. Formanczyk, meanwhile, received All-Big Ten accolades as he became the first Spartan to be selected to the team since 1999.
The Spartans will lose three of their top players in Hourani, McGuire and Topalo, but all three will leave State knowing that it has become a new contender for the Big Ten title.
Players Mentioned
