Michigan State University
Wake Forest
Men's Tennis Splits Doubleheader
2/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 1, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's men's tennis team, ranked No. 58 in the nation, split a home doubleheader Sunday, dropping a 5-2 decision to No. 33 Wake Forest before cruising past Valparaiso, 6-1. The Spartans had previously won their last 21 matches in doubleheaders dating back to 2001 including 10 twin-bill sweeps.
While the breaks went MSU's way Saturday in an upset win over No. 52 Louisville, State (6-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) saw another doubles point come down to a tiebreaker against Wake Forest. After senior Chris Mitchell (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and junior Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.) dominated Andrew Hamar and Todd Paul at No. 2, 8-2, and WFU's Brett Ross and Derrick Spice edged senior Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) and junior Cameron Marshall (Louisville, Ky.) at No. 1, 8-5, the No. 3 match was dead even. MSU's Anthony Stefani (Jr., Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.) and Mike Brown (So., Portage, Mich.) built a 6-2 lead over Joe Bates and Andrew Simpson, and even had the opportunity to serve out the match at 7-6, but Wake controlled action the rest of the way en route to a 9-8(1) win and a 1-0 overall lead.
The Demon Deacons continued their momentum into singles play and won the first three matches to secure the victory. Marshall battled Hamar, who sits at No. 77 in the country, at No. 2 and almost forced a third set after dropping the first, but Hamar held serve at 5-4 in the second for a 6-1, 6-4 win. Ross then increased WFU's lead to 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Simonton at No. 4, and moments later, Paul defeated Mitchell at No. 3, 7-6(2), 6-3.
Even though the match was decided, Formanczyk (No. 100 in the country) stayed undefeated in dual-match play with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph at No. 1 over Spice. The win improved Formanczyk's overall record to 15-4 (6-0 since the spring-season opener).
Freshman Joseph McWilliams (Aurora, Ill.) later reached a third set with David Loewenthal at No. 5 after losing the first but fell in a super-tiebreaker, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0(10-4). Fortunately, freshman Michael Flowers (Memphis, Tenn.) dominated the first and third sets of his match at No. 6 to record a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 win and give State its last point of the afternoon.
Against Valparaiso (0-2 overall, 0-0 Mid-Continent), the Spartans swept all three doubles matches for the first overall point as the duos of Formanczyk/Mitchell, Brown/Stefani and Flowers/McWilliams claimed victories. Flowers and McWilliams combined for a 25-minute triumph over Jay Adams and Evan Roller at No. 3 where the VU pair managed only nine total points in the 8-1 MSU victory.
In singles action, Mitchell, McWilliams, Flowers, Brown and Stefani all earned points for State but Simonton fell in a third set super-tiebreaker at No. 2 for the Crusaders' only win.
Michigan State will take a week off to prepare for its first trip on the road this season. The Spartans will face 2003 NCAA tournament runner-up Vanderbilt (currently ranked No. 4) and Xavier in Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 14 beginning at 12 p.m.
Sunday's Results vs. Wake ForestDoublesNo. 1 Brett Ross/Derrick Spice (WFU) def. Cameron Marshall/Eric Simonton (MSU) 8-5No. 2 Andrew Formanczyk/Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Andrew Hamar/Todd Pual (WFU) 8-2No. 3 Joe Bates/Andrew Simpson (WFU) def. Mike Brown/Anthony Stefani (MSU) 9-8(1)SinglesNo. 1 #100 Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) def. Derrick Spice (WFU) 6-4, 7-5No. 2 #77 Andrew Hamar (WFU) def. Cameron Marshall (MSU) 6-1, 6-4No. 3 Todd Paul (WFU) def. Chris Mitchell (MSU) 7-6(2), 6-3No. 4 Brett Ross (WFU) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 6-1, 6-3No. 5 David Loewenthal (WFU) def. Joseph McWilliams (MSU) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0(10-4)No. 6 Michael Flowers (MSU) def. Liron Strauss (WFU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3No. 33 Wake Forest defeats No. 58 Michigan State, 5-2Records: MSU 5-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten WFU 1-1 overall, 0-0 ACCOrder of Finish: Doubles 2, 1, 3 Singles 2, 4, 3, 1, 5, 6Length of Match: 3:05
Sunday's Results vs. ValparaisoDoublesNo. 1 Andrew Formanczyk/Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Ben Dunham-Freer/Jeff Vrabel (VU) 8-6No. 2 Mike Brown/Anthony Stefani (MSU) def. Nic Kooyers/Joe Venegas (VU) 8-2No. 3 Michael Flowers/Joseph McWilliams (MSU) def. Jay Adams/Evan Roller (VU) 8-1SinglesNo. 1 Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Ben Dunham-Freer (VU) 7-6(6), 6-3No. 2 Nic Kooyers (VU) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0(10-7)No. 3 Joseph McWilliams (MSU) def. Joe Venegas (VU) 6-2, 6-0No. 4 Michael Flowers (MSU) def. Jeff Vrabel (VU) 7-6(5), 6-2No. 5 Mike Brown (MSU) def. Jay Adams (VU) 6-2, ret.No. 6 Anthony Stefani (MSU) def. Evan Roller (VU) 6-0, 6-1No. 58 Michigan State defeats Valparaiso, 6-1Records: MSU 6-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten VU 0-2 overall, 0-0 Mid-ContinentOrder of Finish: Doubles 3, 2, 1 Singles 5, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1Length of Match: 2:38
