Michigan State University
Michigan
Men's Tennis Suffers A 4-3 Defeat To Michigan
3/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 31, 2004
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - This season has been one of numerous ups and downs for the No. 52 Michigan State men's tennis team and Wednesday, March 31, added to that in a big way. The Spartans dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 48 Michigan, for MSU's second consecutive loss by one point. State fell to 13-8 and 0-3 in the Big Ten while the Wolverines earned their first conference win (1-2), improving their overall mark to 9-4.
The Green and White took an early lead in doubles but faltered in the final two matches to give Michigan the first point. Senior and Ann Arbor native Chris Mitchell and junior Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.) combined for an 8-2 victory over Brian Hung and Anthony Jackson at No. 1. The duo moved to 19-9 overall on the year and 4-1 at the No. 1 position. The Wolverines, though, grabbed the No. 2 and No. 3 matches, respectively, to go into singles play leading 1-0.
Michigan increased its advantage to 2-0 when Steve Peretz defeated freshman Joseph McWilliams (Aurora, Ill.) at No. 5, 6-0, 6-4, and then 3-0 as Jackson topped junior Cameron Marshall at No. 2, 6-3, 6-2. With UM only needing one more point to seal the match, State's seniors responded in a big way. Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) picked up his first Big Ten singles victory of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ryan Heller at No. 4, to bring the score to 3-1. Mitchell, MSU's most impressive player in the past few weeks, made it even closer by stretching his winning streak to five, defeating Hung at No. 3, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Unfortunately, the comeback would come to a halt when sophomore Mike Brown (Portage, Mich.), who won the first set at No. 6, 5-7, fell to David Anving in the final two sets, 6-1, 6-2. Closing out the final match, Formanczyk, who is the nation's No. 100-ranked player, shined at No. 1, upsetting No. 49 Michael Rubin, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5). The win was Formanczyk's fourth over a ranked opponent this season and it was the highest-ranked player he has defeated as well. But UM had already wrapped up the contest, posting a final score of 4-3.
State returns home this weekend to face Iowa Saturday and No. 43 Minnesota Sunday. Both matches are scheduled for noon at the MSU outdoor courts.
Wednesday's Results Against MichiganDoublesNo. 1 Formanczyk/Mitchell (MSU) def. Hung/Jackson (UM) 8-2No. 2 Heller/M. Rubin (UM) def. Marshall/Simonton (MSU) 8-6No. 3 Gossain/Peretz (UM) def. Brown/Stefani (MSU) 8-4SinglesNo. 1 #100 Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) def. #49 Michael Rubin (UM) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5)No. 2 Anthony Jackson (UM) def. Cameron Marshall (MSU) 6-3, 6-2No. 3 Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Brian Hung (UM) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3No. 4 Eric Simonton (MSU) def. Ryan Heller (UM) 6-3, 6-4No. 5 Steve Peretz (UM) def. Joseph McWilliams (MSU) 6-0, 6-4No. 6 David Anving (UM) def. Mike Brown (MSU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2No. 48 Michigan defeats No. 52 Michigan State, 4-3Records: MSU 13-8 overall, 0-3 Big Ten UM 9-4 overall, 1-2 Big TenOrder of Finish: Doubles 1, 2, 3 Singles 5, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1Weather: Indoors
Players Mentioned
