Michigan State University
Michigan
No. 75 MSU Women's Tennis Drops Big Ten Opener
3/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 23, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - With its first ranking since 2003, No. 75 Michigan State (10-3, 0-1) opened its Big Ten season against archrival No. 39 Michigan (6-6, 1-0). Despite a vastly improved Spartan squad, the Wolverines overcame the Spartans in a fierce 6-1 competition at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor.
Michigan took an early lead on MSU by capturing the doubles point. At No. 3, sophomore Sarah Andrews (Darwin, Australia) and junior Shelley Brady (Grand Blanc, Mich.) were defeated by Elizabeth Exon and Debra Streifler, 8-0, to give Michigan the 1-0 lead. Senior Karen Gustafson (East Lansing, Mich.) and freshman Pascale Schnitzer (Santiago, Chile) played their first match at the No. 2 spot, but were only able to capture one point against U-M's Leanne Rutherford and Allie Shafner, who took the match 8-1 to secure the doubles point. The Spartans' strong No. 1 doubles team of senior Keri Thompson (Clarke Lake, Mich.) and freshman Christine Bader (Okemos, Mich.) was downed by the No. 13 team of Michelle DaCosta and Kara Delicata, 8-3.
Singles play would not slow down for either team as the majority of sets had very close scores. Michigan controlled all but one match, as Bader captured the Spartans' lone point at No. 3 to knock out any chance for a sweep by the Wolverines.
After dropping the first set, Bader quickly took control over Michigan's Delicata by sweeping to a 6-1 victory over the Wolverine in the second set. With that momentum, Bader pulled off a 6-4 win in the third set to give MSU its only point of the match.
No. 1 featured a fierce match-up between two nationally-ranked opponents as MSU's Keri Thompson played her first match as the No. 100 singles player against No. 50 DaCosta. Despite a strong performance from Thompson, DaCosta claimed the match, 6-4, 6-3.
Andrews also led the Spartans with a solid performance at No. 6, which almost went into a third set. Michigan's Nina Yaftali took the first set, 6-3, but barely held on to capture the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6.
No. 2 would also see a close match in the second set as Exon took the lead over Schnitzer, 6-2, in the first set. In the second set, Schnitzer wouldn't give up for the Spartans, as she nearly forced Exon into a tiebreaker. Despite Schnitzer's strong showing, Exon pulled off the 7-5 win.
MSU's Brady and Baron also put in solid performances against the Wolverines.
The Spartans will continue Big Ten play on the road at No. 45 Wisconsin (6-4, 0-1) Saturday (March 26) and at No. 2 Northwestern (11-1, 1-0) on Sunday (March 27).
Michigan 6 Michigan State 1 Varsity Tennis Center Ann Arbor, Mich.
Doubles:No. 1 #13 Michelle DaCosta/Kara Delicata (UM) def. Keri Thompson/Christine Bader (MSU) 8-3No. 2 Leanne Rutherford/Allie Shafner (UM) def. Karen Gustafson/Pascale Schnitzer (MSU) 8-1No. 3 Elizabeth Exon/Debra Streifler (U-M) def. Sarah Andrews/Shelley Brady (MSU) 8-0
Singles:No. 1 # 30 DaCosta def. #100 Thompson (MSU) 6-4, 6-3No. 2 Exon (U-M) def. Schnitzer (MSU) 6-2, 7-5No. 3 Bader (MSU) def. Delicata (U-M) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4No. 4 Rutherford def. Brady ((MSU) 6-2, 6-4No. 5 Streifler (U-M) def. Jessica Baron (MSU) 6-3, 6-1No. 6 Nina Yaftali (U-M) def. Andrews (MSU) 6-3, 7-6
Players Mentioned
