Women's Tennis Travels to Indiana, Purdue
3/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 29, 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten) embarks on its first conference road trip this weekend when it travels to No. 41 Indiana and No. 33 Purdue. The Spartans visit the Hoosiers on Saturday, March 31st at 11 a.m. They then travel to Purdue on Sunday, April 1st, to face off against the Boilermakers at 12 noon.
Scouting the Spartans
The Spartans fell in both conference matches this weekend at home. No. 26 Minnesota defeated the Spartans 5-2 on Saturday, March 24th and MSU fell to Wisconsin the following day, 6-1.
Redshirt junior Dana Guentert went a combined 3-1 in both singles and doubles play over the weekend. Guentert's 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win on court three against Wisconsin was the only point won for the Spartans. Against Minnesota, Guentert won her singles match against Aria Lambert, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 and paired up with freshman Julianne Gruber to notch a 8-5 doubles victory at the No. 3 spot. Also against Minnesota, sophomore Katarina Lingl defeated her opponent, Julia Courter, on court five by a score of 6-1, 7-6.
Singles Success
Sophomore Katarina Lingl has been the leader in singles play for the Spartans for most of the season. Lingl is 10-4 and has seen action at both the No. 4 and No. 5 positions where she has matching 5-2 records at each position. Sophomore Olga Chernova has also been a consistent player for MSU in singles matches. Chernova has gone 5-5 on court two and is 1-3 at the No. 1 spot. Freshman Julianne Gruber has gone 6-4 in her debut season for the Green and White, recording a perfect 4-0 record at the No. 6 position. Sophomore Marina Bohrer is 6-4 at the No. 3 spot and has won one match as the No. 2 player.
Guentert's Doubles Victories
The Spartans have seen consistent victories on court three in doubles play this season. They are 9-4 at the No. 3 position. A consistent player on that court is redshirt junior Dana Guentert. Guentert has been part of eight of those wins at the No. 3 spot. She is 9-3 in doubles play and is 3-1 when playing alongside freshman Julianne Gruber.
Scouting the Hoosiers
The Hoosiers (13-4, 2-1 Big Ten) are coming off winning two straight Big Ten matches over Penn State, 6-1, and Ohio State, 4-3. Kayla Fujimoto is an impressive 13-1 in singles play and is undefeated, 9-0, on court three. No. 99 Leslie Hureau has gone 10-3 at the No. 1 position and is on a five-match winning streak. In doubles play Fujimoto and Evgeniya Vertesheva have gone a team-best 10-3 at the No. 2 spot, while Hureau has paired up with Alecia Kauss to notch a 9-2 record on court three.
Looking at Purdue
Purdue had its nine match winning streak snapped this past weekend after being edged by Penn State, 4-3. The Boilermakers are 10-2 this season and are 2-1 in the Big Ten. They hold a 6-2 record over ranked opponents. Purdue will face Michigan on Saturday before hosting the Spartans.
Big Ten Tennis
The Big Ten has already proven to be a tough conference to play in this year. Nine teams are ranked in the ITA DI Women's National Team Rankings, with four in the top 25. No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Northwestern, No. 18 Nebraska and No. 21 Illinois represent the Big Ten teams in the top 25. No. 32 Minnesota, No. 33 Purdue, No. 41 Indiana and No. 46 Penn State round out the ranked Big Ten teams.
The Spartans host four of their Big Ten opponents at home this season and will travel to Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship at the end of April.
Moving on to Conference Play
MSU went 8-3 in nonconference play this season. They won all eight of their nonconference matches in East Lansing, and only fell in one at home in a 5-2 loss to Akron.
The Spartans wrapped up the nonconference portion of their schedule with a win at home over Ball State. MSU blanked the Cardinals, 7-0 in its last nonconference match of the season. It was the second time of the season that the Spartans prevented their opponent from scoring at least one point. The first time happened in the season opener when Michigan State blanked Oakland, 7-0.
How They Rank
MSU is 0-2 against ranked opponents, falling to No. 11 Michigan, 7-0, and No. 26 Minnesota, 5-2. The Spartans face two ranked opponents this weekend, with No. 41 Indiana and No. 33 Purdue.
On the Road
This is only the second road trip this season for the Spartans. They fell in both of their road matches against Central Florida and Stetson in the beginning of March. The Spartans kicked off their 2012 season with nine straight home matches, going 7-2 in that period.
Next Up
The Spartans return back to East Lansing next weekend to host Northwestern and Illinois.
Players Mentioned
