Women's Tennis Finishes Home Slate With Purdue on Sunday
4/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team (8-12, 1-6 Big Ten) returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Purdue in its final home match of the season. The Spartans are 11-22 all-time against the Boilermakers. MSU earned the most recent win in the series, a 6-1 win last year.
Last Time Out
MSU fell, 4-3, to Penn State on Saturday. The Spartans wrapped up the weekend by falling, 5-2, to No. 35 Ohio State in both school's first outdoor match of the season.
Conference Honors
Elena Ivanova (Moscow, Russia) was honored as the Big Ten Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week on March 31. This was the first Big Ten weekly honor for the freshman in her career. This marks the first laurel for the Spartans since Feb. 14, 2007, when Christine Bader was named Big Ten Athlete of the Week by the conference. Ivanova now boasts a 17-14 singles mark, seeing most of her action this season at No. 3 singles. 10 of Ivanova's wins have come during the dual season, leading the team in that spot.
Scouting the Spartans
Michigan State enters the weekend matches with a record of 8-12. Pacing the Spartans is Whitney Wilson (Evansville, Ind.), who has an individual record of 19-13. Anchoring the Spartans at No. 1 singles is senior Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.). On the spring, Kebler has tallied eight singles wins. Also contributing to the Spartan success is Ivanova. Ivanova is 10-9 on the spring season, seeing most of her action at the No. 3 singles position this year. In each of the team's eight wins this season, the Spartans have earned a win at the No. 5 singles position - Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga), Wilson and Lindsey Lonergan (Cincinnati, Ohio). Overall, MSU has a .579 win percentage in that spot this season, the best of any singles position
Doubles Success
The Spartans have picked up the doubles point in 12 matches on the season, including all eight wins. The doubles tandem of Manon Noe (Liancourt, France) and Wilson is 9-7 on the dual season. Compiling a 7-3 record in doubles play is the pairing of Ivanova and Kebler. The pair has mostly seen action in the No. 2 doubles spot during the season, but boast a 2-1 record at the No. 1 spot. The tandem's most notable win was an upset of the 35th-ranked doubles tandem of Wisconsin's Elizabeth Carpenter and Angela Chupa.
Sophomore Sensations
The Spartans have received contributions this season from several sophomores. Leading the way for the class is Wilson, who leads the team with a 19-13 singles record. Also contributing to the Spartans is Noe, who partners with Wilson to form the No. 1 doubles tandem for the Spartans. Together, the pair is 9-7 on the spring, with 13 victories overall this season.
Dandy Dana
Dana Guentert has started her Spartan career with an impressive record of 17-6 on the season. Guentert is 8-2 in her last 10 completed singles matches, winning her last six. Guentert leds the team with a .739 win percentage, and is tied for second on the team with her 17 wins. Guentert has posted a perfect 4-0 record at the No. 5 singles spot, and is 5-2 at the No. 6 spot this season. Her nine wins in the spring are second on the team, and her .818 win percentage is tops in dual play.
Purdue Connection
MSU's volunteer assistant coach, Missy Wright is a `03 graduate of Purdue. Her collegiate career highlights include defeating the third-ranked and defending national champion pairing of Amanda Augustus and Amy Jensen from Cal with partner Jennifer Embry. Wright earned a doubles ranking of 10th in the 1999 preseason ITA poll, the highest of her career. Wright is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and was the Boilermakers team captain during her senior season. She was ranked nationally in doubles for three consecutive seasons and ranked as high as 24th in doubles during the regular season.
Scouting the Boilermakers
At the reigns of the Boilermakers is second-year head coach Laura Glitz. Purdue enters the weekend with a record of 6-10 overall and are 2-4 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers are paced by freshman Jennifer Rabot and junior Tatiana Ganzha, each has tallied 20-wins this season for the Boilermakers. Rabot and Ganzha have spent their time in the middle of the lineup this season. Leading the doubles portion of the lineup at the No. 1 spot is the tandem of Stephanie Wooten and Michelle Sammons. Together, the pair is 15-7 on the season, with 10 of its wins coming during the spring season.
Next Up
The Spartans return to action on Saturday and Sunday, for matches against Illinois and Indiana respectively. Both matches begin at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
