Women's Tennis Heads To Big Ten Championships
4/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 28, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team will travel to Evanston, Ill. to compete in the Big Ten Tournament this Thursday-Sunday (April 29-May 2). The No. 8 seed Spartans open the tournament, which is being hosted by Northwestern, against No. 9 seed Purdue Thursday at 10 a.m. Central time. The winner advances to play Friday at 10 a.m. against No. 1 seed Northwestern.
Where Do We Stand? With a record of 8-13 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten, the Spartans tied with No. 50 Purdue (9-13, 3-7) this year for 8th place in the league. Last year, the Spartans placed last in the league with no wins in the Big Ten.
This year the Spartans accomplished what they set out to do: win matches in the Big Ten. As they continued to battle through a tough nationally ranked schedule, the Spartans were able to defeat Penn State, Minnesota and then-No. 58 Purdue.
Second Time Around The last meeting between MSU and Purdue occurred on Saturday, April 17th as the Spartans upset then-No. 58 Purdue, 4-3. MSU won the doubles point by claiming the No. 1 and 3 doubles matches, then received singles victories from Caroline Lay at No. 2, Pascale Schnitzer at No. 4 and Jessica Baron at No. 5, with Schnitzer's three-set match clinching the victory.
Since their meeting, Purdue has played three matches, all of which were decided by scores of 4-3. The Boilermakers defeated then-No. 27 Notre Dame, and suffered losses to then-No. 29 Michigan and then-No. 25 Indiana.
Big Ten History Since the use of a single elimination tournament for the conference championship was begun in 1996, the Big Ten Tournament has not been kind to Michigan State. In the eight previous tournaments, MSU has yet to win a match in the tournament. However, this season's eighth seed for the Spartans is their highest in the history of the tournament.
Revenge! Michigan State won three Big Ten matches this season against teams that beat them last year. The Spartans defeated Penn State 6-1 after suffering a 4-3 loss last year, beat Minnesota 7-0 after falling 7-0 in 2003, and avenged a 6-1 loss last season to Purdue with a 4-3 win this year.
Double Time Despite having three of the six regular members of the lineup playing only spring matches, MSU still managed to have five players reach double-figure singles victories during the 2003-04 year. Caroline Lay has a team-high 18 wins for the year, followed by Sarah Andrews (14), Jessica Baron (13), Pascale Schnitzer (12) and Shelley Brady (11). Baron and Schnitzer reached the mark despite playing only dual matches. Also, Andrews (20), Lay (16) and Brady (14) have all recorded double-figure doubles wins this year.
Close But No Cigar Michigan State has lost three matches this season by 4-3 scores (vs. Eastern Michigan, DePaul and then-No. 52 Ohio State), and won just one 4-3 match (at then-No. 58 Purdue). Had the Spartans managed to earn wins in their 4-3 losses, MSU would have a winning overall record (11-10) and a 4-6 Big Ten mark.
Ranked Teams State has played 10 nationally ranked teams this season including No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 31 Virginia, No. 54 Florida State, No.19 Michigan, No. 52 Ohio State, No. 35 Iowa, No. 58 Purdue, No. 17 Illinois, No. 50 Wisconsin and No. 10 Northwestern.
Coach Bauer on Big Ten Tournament: "We've worked to peak at the right time. Hopefully we'll continue to see more at the tournament."
Perspective From:
Junior Keri Thompson "With only a couple days to practice we need to keep up our high-intensity attitude. Hopefully we'll pick up four more wins."
Senior Caroline Lay: "I think our biggest thing is we've started to establish a reputation for never giving up. That is probably one of the best elements you can have going into this tournament."
Players Mentioned
