MSUSpartans.com   WEB
Men's Tennis Prepares For Last Road Match of the Season
 
MSU travels to University Park, Pa., to take on the No. 47 Nittany Lions.
 
 
 

 
Junior Alex Forger
 
 

April 11, 2008

Listen to Spartan Sports Podcast
Coach Orlando's Weekly Podcast

Complete Release in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

COMING UP
No. 73 Michigan State goes on its last road trip of its regular season, traveling to No. 47 Penn State on Saturday, April 12. Penn State leads the all-time series, 16-9, with the first meeting dating back to 1923, in a 3-1 loss for the Spartans. The match is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State is coming off a 5-2 loss to No. 52 Iowa last Sunday in Iowa City.

Michigan State looked to control the match early, taking the Hawkeyes down in two of three doubles matches to earn the 1-0 lead. At No. 2, John Allare and Adam Monich set the tone for the Spartans, with a dominating 8-2 victory over Iowa's Walker Grimes and Austen Kauss. At No. 3, Nick Rinks and Tyler Sauerbrey clinched the point for MSU, holding off Patrick Dwyer and Gregory Holm for an 8-5 win.

The Hawkeyes rebounded quickly in singles; however, taking the Spartans out in five of six matches. Iowa's Bart van Monsjou took out Rinks in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1, while MSU's No. 2 Forger was dropped by Christian Bierich, 6-1, 6-0. MSU's No. 3 Allare also had a tough day in singles, as he fell to J.P. Ritchie, 6-1, 6-2. At No. 5, Clark Richardson was defeated by Iowa's Tommy McGeorge, 6-1, 6-0, and Sauerbrey lost to Holm at No. 6, 6-4, 6-4.

PENN STATE SCOUTING REPORT
No. 47 Penn State has a record of 13-9 and 4-3 in Big Ten play, while winning seven of its last eight matches. Michael James leads the Nittany Lions in singles wins in dual-match play, going 9-8 at No. 1, and is currently ranked No. 63 in the nation. Brendan Lynch leads the team in overall wins with 25, posting a mark of 7-5 at No. 3 in dual-match play. James and Lynch have led the way in doubles as well, going 13-1 in dual-match play.

KEY PLAYERS
The Spartans are now 11-10 on the season, and are ranked 73rd in the latest national polls. Seniors Nick Rinks (14-5) and Adam Monich (13-6) have led the way for the Spartans in singles play. The doubles duo of Rinks and Monich is 11-0 in dual-match play, and currently ranked 12th in the nation.

STRONG SINGLES
The Spartans have a combined record of 43-20 at the No. 1, 3 and 4 positions in dual-match play, going 16-5 at No. 1, 13-8 at No. 3, and 14-6 at No. 4. Nick Rinks has played all of his matches at No. 1, going 14-5 so far, and is currently ranked No. 105 in the nation. Junior John Allare holds a 8-7 record at No. 3, while Adam Monich is 2-1 at flight 3. Monich has posted a 10-5 record for the Spartans at No. 4, and recorded his first-career victory at No. 1 singles over Gabriel Garcia of IUPUI on Feb. 2.

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan State is 7-0 on the season when winning at No. 2 and No. 5 singles. In doubles, MSU has won 10 of 14 matches when winning the doubles point, compared to a 1-6 record when losing the one-point advantage.

WIN WATCH
Gene Orlando needs just two more victories to record his 200th win as head coach at Michigan State.

NEXT UP
Michigan State returns home for the remainder of the regular season, as it plays host to Northwestern on Saturday, April 19 at 12 p.m. in East Lansing.