Michigan State University
Northwestern
Michigan State Men's Tennis Edges Northwestern
4/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 19, 2008
Listen to Spartan Sports Podcasts
Head Coach Gene Orlando
Junior Alex Forger
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's tennis team picked up its first Big Ten victory of the season with a 4-3 defeat of Northwestern on Saturday afternoon at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. The Spartans (12-11, 1-8 Big Ten) fell behind early in doubles, but roared back in singles competition, taking four of six matches. On senior weekend, Spartan seniors Nick Rinks and Adam Monich set the tone, as Rinks breezed passed Northwestern's Marc Dwyer at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-1, while Monich picked up the win at No. 4, over NU's Peter Rispoli, 6-4, 6-4.
The Wildcats (7-16, 0-10 Big Ten) took the early advantage over the Spartans, taking two of three in the doubles competition. Monich and John Allare won the first match of doubles, defeating Rispoli and David Seyferth, 8-3. Northwestern rebounded, however, taking the next two matches to take the one-point lead. At No. 3, NU's Alex Thams and Andrew McCarthy downed Rinks and Tyler Sauerbrey, 8-5, while MSU's Alex Forger and Billy Gardner fell in a close one at No. 1 to Dwyer and Alex Sanborn, 9-7.
The score stood 1-1 after Rinks' win at No. 1, but quickly turned again in the Wildcats' favor as McCarthy defeated Sauerbrey, 6-2, 6-3. Monich's victory knotted up the score once again at 2-2, but Northwestern's No. 6 Seyferth put the Cats back on top with a straight-set win over Clark Richardson, 6-3, 6-4.
With Northwestern one win away from handing the Spartans the loss, MSU's No. 3 Allare and No. 2 Forger poured it on for MSU.
Allare came up with a big straight-set win over Thams, 7-5, 6-4, putting the match in the hands of Spartan junior Forger.
In an up-and down competition at No. 2 singles, Forger looked in solid position after his 6-4 first-set victory. But Northwestern's Sanborn recovered quickly, taking out Forger in the second frame, 6-2. With the match hanging in the balance the Spartans dug down, breaking Sanborn's serve to take the match with a 6-4 third-set win.
"It felt good to come out and get the monkey off our backs," said MSU head coach Gene Orlando. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys today. Our seniors had some inspirational words for the team between the singles and doubles competitions, and I really thought that got us going. Alex Forger played a great match today. He showed a lot of toughness and pulled out that third set to get us the win."
The Spartans play host to No. 34 Wisconsin tomorrow in their last regular-season matchup at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts at 12 p.m. Check with msuspartans.com for any weather-related location or time changes.
Players Mentioned
