2007 Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship Preview

April 24, 2007

Michigan State Big Ten Championship Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader

2007 Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship Bracket
Download Free Acrobat Reader

EAST LANSING, Mich.-Michigan State has been named the No. 9 seed for the 2007 Big Ten Championship, and will face No. 8 Penn State in the opening round on Thursday, April 26 at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. CT). The winner of Thursday's matchup will move on to face the No. 1 seed Northwestern on Friday, April 27 at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. CT).

SEEDINGS
Following its second-straight undefeated Big Ten season, Northwestern will enter the championships as the No. 1 seed. Indiana drew the No. 2 slot with a 9-1 conference record, while Michigan (8-2), Iowa (7-3), and Ohio State (6-4) also received a bye in the preliminary round.

In the opening round on Thrusday, April 26, No. 8 Penn State will face No. 9 Michigan State in the day's first match at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. CT). Also on Thursday, No. 6 Purdue will face No. 11 Wisconsin, and No. 7 Minnesota will face No. 10 Illinois.

CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
The 2007 Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship will be hosted by the University of Minnesota at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Championship Information and results can be found online at the University of Minnesota athletics web site (www.gophersports.com).

LAST WEEK
Michigan State split its last weekend at home, earning a 4-3 victory over Wisconsin, before falling to conference-leader Northwestern on Sunday. Spartan seniors Sarah Andrews and Pascale Schnitzer turned the tables against Wisconsin in singles with help from sophomores Marianne Eelens and Ana Milosavljevic.

NO. 9 MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State closed out the regular season with a 12-11 overall record (2-8, Big Ten). The Spartans picked up conference victories against Illinois, and last weekend over Wisconsin. Spartan seniors Sarah Andrews and Pascale Schnitzer have led MSU this season, and will be making their final Big Ten Championship appearance. Andrews, a 2007 co-captain, has compiled an impressive 17-5 overall doubles record this season, and will compete at No. 1 doubles with sophomore Stephanie Kebler at the championships. In singles action, Andrews has played at No. 4 compiling an 8-8 record. Schnitzer has moved into the Spartans' No. 2 singles position splitting for a 2-2 record, while going 12-10 overall. Schnitzer and sophomore Ana Milosavljevic are now 12-8 at No. 2 doubles.

Michigan State junior co-captain Christine Bader has competed at No. 1 singles in all but one match this season. In addition, Bader and Kebler competed for the majority of the season at No. 1 doubles, putting together an 11-7 record.

NO. 8 PENN STATE
Penn State heads into the weekend following 6-1 losses to No. 27 Indiana and No. 43 Ohio State. Senior Andreea Niculescu has spent the majority of the season at No. 1 singles for the Nittany Lions and has put together a 5-13 overall mark. Niculescu earned an impressive victory last weekend over Ohio State's Julie Blackmore, 6-2, 6-4. Sasha Abraham and Lauren Holzberg round out the Penn State top three in singles. In doubles, Abraham and Holzberg have seen the most action at No. 1, with a 4-4 record. Jenny Shular and Sarah Lotto are 6-4 at No. 2, while Dorothy Dohanics and Lauren McCarthy have a 9-4 mark at No. 3.

THE 2006 CHAMPIONSHIP STORYLINE
Michigan State entered the 2006 Big Ten Championship as the No. 6 seed. The Spartans faced No. 11 Wisconsin in the opening round of the tournament, falling to the Badgers, 4-0. Penn State was also a No. 8 seed last season, and defeated No. 9 Minnesota, 4-3, to advance to the quarterfinal round. The Nittany Lions moved on to face the No. 1 seed Northwestern, falling to the eventual champion, 4-0.

PENN STATE REMATCH
The Spartans and the Nittany Lions last met at Penn State on April 14, with the home team coming away with a 5-2 victory. Michigan State's Pascale Schnitzer defeated Sasha Abraham at No. 2 (6-1, 6-0), while Stephanie Kebler earned the other Spartan win at No. 3 over Lauren Holzberg (6-1, 6-2). With the win, Penn State evened up the all-time record between the two schools at 8-8.

SENIOR SUCCESS
Michigan State senior co-captain Sarah Andrews currently leads the team in overall wins with 25 (17 doubles, 8 singles), and in win percentage (.658). Andrews has played primarily at No. 3 doubles and No. 4 singles. Senior Pascale Schnitzer follows just behind Andrews with 24 victories for the season, while Christine Bader, Stephanie Kebler and Ana Milosavljevic are not far behind with 23 overall wins for the season.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS
Six of seven members on the Spartan roster have prior experience at the Big Ten Championship, and will look to use that in order to advance at this season's championship. For her sophomore campaign, Christine Bader was named to the 2006 All-Big Ten Team, making her the first MSU honoree since 1991. Bader closed out the season with a 13-10 singles record and 14-10 doubles mark.

ALL-TIME BIG TEN
Michigan State will look to break a string of first-round eliminations at the Big Ten Championship this weekend as the No. 9 Spartans will face the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions. Michigan State has not advanced to the second round of tournament play since the 1997 championship, and has not won a Big Ten Championship since the conference began using a single-elimination format for the conference championship in 1996.

Since joining the Big Ten, MSU has however had nine individual champions and four doubles championships. In addition, Michigan State has had 10 players named to the All-Big Ten Team.

Last season Michigan State finished sixth in the conference standings, matching its highest finish since 1991.