Michigan State University
UIC
Spartans Split Home Doubleheader with WMU, UIC
2/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's tennis team (10-6, 0-1) earned another home split at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility on Saturday, with a 5-2 setback against No. 69 Western Michigan and a 7-0 win over Illinois Chicago.
The Spartans started the day in search of their first win against a ranked opponent this season in the No. 69 Broncos. Western picked up the doubles point with a 6-3 victory at No. 2 doubles and a 6-1 win at No. 3, giving the Broncos a 1-0 lead heading into singles competition.
"We knew it was going to be a battle, it always is with Western," MSU head coach Gene Orlando said. "We put ourselves in a position to have a chance and we're just trying to get better every day. We just came up a little bit short, but the guys competed hard and that's all we can ask for."
The Broncos started singles play with wins at No. 4 and No. 6, even though Billy Shisler and Ivan Rakic pushed their second sets to tiebreakers. The action got even closer from there, with the final four singles matches all going to third sets.
Mac Roy took his match at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, and Alexander Kim was victorious at No. 5 by a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 decision to give the Spartans two team points. But, the Broncos won close contests at No. 2 and No. 3 singles to take the 5-2 win.
The Spartans bounced back against Illinois Chicago in the second match of the day. MSU started doubles play with a new look, with the duos of Michael Dube and Kim and Roy and Colin Harvey pairing up for the first time this season. The seasoned pairing of Jasper Koenen and Shisler took the match at No. 3 doubles, 6-2, while Roy and Harvey won 6-4 at No. 1 to give MSU the doubles point.
"We're just trying to find a combination where we can be competitive in every single position," Orlando said. "We just wanted to see if there was anything we can do to make us a little stronger. We've still got two months to play and we've got a lot of good teams ahead of us, we're just trying to find ways to grow and get better."
Shisler kept the momentum in the Spartans' court in singles play, scoring a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles to kickstart the Spartans. Roy followed close behind with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 1 and Dube finished just after with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 to clinch the match for the Spartans. Rakic, Harvey and Kim all tallied singles victories to close out the 7-0 sweep for MSU.
The Spartans return to action on March 5 in their first trip out of the state since Jan. 24 as they head to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake.
#69 Western Michigan 5, Michigan State 2
Feb 27, 2016 at East Lansing, Mich. (MSU Indoor Tennis Facility)
Singles competition
1. Mac Roy (MSU) def. Jefta Kecic (WMU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
2. Maik Steiner (WMU) def. Michael Dube (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
3. Matt Hamilton (WMU) def. Jasper Koenen (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6
4. Ruben Greiner (WMU) def. Billy Shisler (MSU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Alexander Kim (MSU) def. Matej Svjetlicic (WMU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6
6. Daniel Loebel (WMU) def. Ivan Rakic (MSU) 6-4, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. Mac Roy/Michael Dube (MSU) vs. Daniel Loebel/Ruben Greiner (WMU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Matt Hamilton/Maik Steiner (WMU) def. Jasper Koenen/Billy Shisler (MSU) 6-3
3. Jefta Kecic/Jimmy Beckwith (WMU) def. Colin Harvey/Ivan Rakic (MSU) 6-1
Michigan State 7, UIC 0
Feb 27, 2016 at East Lansing, Mich. (MSU Indoor Tennis Facility)
Singles competition
1. Mac Roy (MSU) def. HEDSTROM, Carl (UIC) 7-5, 6-4
2. Michael Dube (MSU) def. COLE, Christopher (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
3. Billy Shisler (MSU) def. PAGE, Andy (UIC) 7-5, 6-2
4. Alexander Kim (MSU) def. GRANGER, Mitch (UIC) 7-6, 6-3
5. Ivan Rakic (MSU) def. DIB, Marcelo (UIC) 6-3, 6-4
6. Colin Harvey (MSU) def. CEDERKALL, Max (UIC) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Mac Roy/Colin Harvey (MSU) def. COLE, Christopher/GRANGER, Mitch (UIC) 6-4
2. Michael Dube/Alexander Kim (MSU) vs. DIB, Marcelo/HEDSTROM, Carl (UIC) 4-5, unfinished
3. Jasper Koenen/Billy Shisler (MSU) def. PAGE, Andy/CEDERKALL, Max (UIC) 6-2
Players Mentioned
