Michigan State University
Purdue
Michigan State Falls To #43 Purdue, 5-2
4/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team fell to No. 43 Purdue, 5-2, Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Spartans slipped to 11-8 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten action, while the Boilermakers improved to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in leauge play.
Sophomore Christine Bader (Okemos, Mich.) and freshman Ana Milosavljevic (Johannesburg, South Africa) earned the two wins for the Spartans Sunday. Bader defeated freshman Randi Schuler at the No. 1 singles spot, 6-1, 6-3. Schuler came into the contest ranked 66th in the nation in singles play.
"That's a great win and a deserved win for Christine," MSU interim coach Brett Page said. "She has been working really hard, and she has had a couple of close matches lately. Hopefully, this will be a break through win and she can get a few more down the stretch."
Milosavljevic received the starting nod today at the No. 6 singles spot, and she responded by earning her first career Big Ten win. Milosavljevic defeated Purdue senior Brittany Minna in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Milosavljevic also was inserted into the doubles lineup, teaming with Pascale Schnitzer (Santiago, Chile) to defeat Minna and freshman Anna Dzeva, 8-7 (1), in the No.3 doubles match.
"We have a really deep team and it's tough to decide who gets in at the sixth spot," Page said. "Ana had a chance to get in there today and she had a great match and played doubles great with Pascale. She got in there and got a straight sets win; she was impressive."
The Spartans lost the doubles point; however, after Bader and Sarah Andrews (Darwin, Australia) fell to Brooke Beier and Mallory Voelker, 8-1, and Jessica Baron (Miami, Fla.) and Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.) lost 8-5 to Schuler and Stephanie Wooten at the No. 2 doubles.
The other four singles matches saw MSU lose in straight sets. At No. 2, Schnitzer lost her first set to Beier, 6-3, and battled back in the second only to fall short, 6-4. Playing at No.3, Baron was defeated by Voelker, 6-0, 6-2. Baron's doubles partner, Kebler, also went quickly at the No. 4 spot, losing to Wooten, 6-2, 6-3. Andrews, playing at No. 5 was defeated by Dzeva, 6-2, 6-3.
The Spartan netters will return to action on Thursday, April 13 for their final non-conference match against Valparaiso at 6 p.m.
#43 Purdue 5 Michigan State 2
Doubles
No. 1 Brooke Beier/Mallory Voelker (PUR) def. Christine Bader/Sarah Andrews (MSU), 8-1
No. 2 Stephanie Wooten/Randi Schuler (PUR) def. Jessica Baron/Stephanie Kebler (MSU), 8-5
No. 3 Pascale Schnitzer/Ana Milosavljevic (MSU) def. Anna Dzeva/Brittany Minna (PUR), 8-7 (1)
Order of Finsih: 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 1 Bader (MSU) def. #66 Schuler (PUR), 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 Beier (PUR) def. Scnitzer (MSU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Voelker (PUR) def. Baron (MSU), 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 Wooten (PUR) def. Kebler (MSU), 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 Dzeva (PUR) def. Andrews (MSU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 Milosavljevic (MSU) def. Minna (PUR), 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 1, 6, 5, 2
Players Mentioned
