Women's Tennis Faces Northwestern, Illinois
4/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 6, 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's tennis team (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten) looks to capture its first conference win this weekend when they host No. 14 Northwestern and No. 19 Illinois at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The Spartans and Wildcats face off on Saturday, April 7th at noon. On Sunday, April 8th, MSU and Illinois will play at 11 a.m.
Scouting the Spartans
The Spartans dropped both of their conference road matches this past weekend to No. 41 Indiana, 6-1, and No. 33 Purdue, 6-1. The Spartans failed to capture a doubles victory against either opponent but won a singles match in each contest.
Against Indiana, redshirt junior Dana Guentert extended her singles win-streak on court six by dropping Kayla Fujimoto in the first set 6-4. After losing the second set, 2-6, Guentert rallied to win the tiebreaker, 10-8.
Sophomore Marina Bohrer picked up the lone point for the Spartans against the Boilermakers. At the No. 2 position, Bohrer dropped opponent Lynda Xepoleas 6-4 in the first set before falling in the second, 2-6. Bohrer edged Xepoleas 11-9 in the tiebreaker to pick up her eight singles victory of the season.
Watching the Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats (10-7, 4-1 Big Ten) are coming off of two straight Big Ten victories over Minnesota 5-2, and Wisconsin, 6-1. They most recently edged Notre Dame, 4-3 after No. 62 Brittany Wowchuk won the decisive match on court three over Notre Dame's Jennifer Kellner, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. No. 21 Katy Turvy leads Northwestern in singles play on court one. The junior is 12-6 in singles and has gone 6-0 at the No. 3 spot in doubles alongside Belinda Niu.
Looking at Illinois
The Fighting Illini (12-5, 4-1 Big Ten) visit East Lansing in the midst of a six match winning streak. Illinois most recently dropped Minnesota, 6-1, and blanked Wisconsin, 7-0. No. 124 Melissa Kopinski leads Illinois in singles play with a team-best record of 11-2. Allison Falkin is 9-4 individually in doubles play and is 5-4 alongside Rachael White at the No. 1 spot. Falkin has seen most of her singles action at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots.
Big Ten Tennis
The Big Ten has 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 Northwestern, No. 15 Michigan, No. 17 Nebraska and No. 19 Illinois represent the Big Ten teams in the top 25. No. 33 Minnesota, No. 34 Purdue, No. 45 Indiana, No. 47 Penn State, and No. 72 Iowa 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 0-4 against ranked opponents, falling to No. 11 Michigan, 7-0, and No. 26 Minnesota, 5-2. The Spartans most recently fell to No. 41 Indiana, 6-1, and No. 33 Purdue, 6-1. The Spartans face two ranked opponents again this weekend, with No. 14 Northwestern and No. 19 Illinois.
Home Sweet Home
The Spartans kicked off their 2012 season with nine straight home matches, going 7-2 in that period. The Spartans play 14 out of their 22 matches at home this season. Out of those 14, five are against Big Ten opponents. They have recorded an 8-4 record so far this season at home. The Spartans have one home match left after this weekend when they host Penn State on April 22nd.
Next Up
The Spartans are on the road for three-straight matches in the upcoming few weeks traveling to Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State.
Players Mentioned
