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Women's Tennis Goes on Road for Two Big Ten Battles
 
Michigan State ends regular-season play at Northwestern and Wisconsin.
 
 
 

 
Junior Stephanie Kebler
 
 

April 18, 2008

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COMING UP
The No. 60 Michigan State women's tennis team goes on the road for its last two games of the regular season, as it travels to Evanston, Ill., on Saturday, April 19 for a matchup against top-ranked Northwestern at 3 p.m. The Spartans then move on to Madison, Wis., on Sunday for a 12 p.m. battle with the Badgers.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
For the first time in program history the Spartan women's tennis team will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. MSU's matchup with No. 1 Northwestern will air on Wednesday, April 23 at 8 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State was upset by Penn State, 4-3, last Sunday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. On senior day, Christine Bader impressed, teaming with Whitney Wilson to take down Penn State's Sarah Lotta and Jenny Shular, 8-4, in doubles. The lone Spartan senior then blew past Katelyn BeVard in straight sets at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-2.

The Spartans set the tone early, taking two of three from Penn State in doubles. In addition to the win at No. 1, Manon Noe and Ana Milosavljevic picked up the quick win at No. 2, downing Lauren Holzberg and Lauren McCarthy, 8-2.

MSU came out strong in singles plays, as Bader's win at No. 1 gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead. PSU put its first point on the board shortly after, as Dorothy Dohanics defeated Lindsey Lonergan at No. 4, 6-1, 6-3. But MSU's Michelle Murphy gave the Spartans back the 2-point cushion at No. 6 singles, with a straight-set win over Leyla Morzan 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

The momentum began to shift midmatch, as Penn State fought back and ripped off three-straight wins to complete the comeback. At No. 5 singles, MSU's Milosavljevic took her opponent to the limit, but was defeated in the tiebreakers of both sets, as she fell to McCarthy, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7). Stephanie Kebler looked on her way to a comfortable victory at No. 2 after blowing out Shular, 6-1, in the first set, but the Penn State senior crept back in, winning the second frame, 7-5, then capped off the match in the third set, 6-4.

With the score tied 3-3, Noe and Holzberg went back-and-forth for the final point at No. 3, dragging their match into a third set tiebreaker. Noe was strong in her effort, but Holzberg was too tough down the stretch, as she took out the Spartan freshman, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).

A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS
The Northwestern Wildcats are 22-1 on the season (8-0 Big Ten), and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Northwestern's only blemish on the year came in a loss to No. 4 Georgia Tech at the ITA Indoor Finals in early February. NU currently has three players ranked in the top 50 in singles competiton, including No. 3 Maria Mosolova (32-4), No. 9 Georgia Rose (32-10) and No. 31 Samantha Murray (34-9). Lui and Rose are currently ranked No. 14 in the nation in doubles, and have 17-1 record, including a 11-0 mark at No. 1 in dual-match play.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin is 8-3 on the season, and is coming off its first Big Ten victory of the year with a convincing 6-1 victory over No. 47 Iowa last weekend, to put an end to its five-match skid. Chelsea Nusslock leads the team in dual-match play wins with a record of 10-10, including a 6-6 mark at No. 5, while going 4-3 at No. 6. In doubles play, Nusslock and Katya Mirnova have gone 6-1 at No. 3, and stand with an overall record of 6-2.

SITTING AT THE TOP
Three Spartans are currently tied for the most wins on the team in singles this season. Lindsey Lonergan has posted a mark of 19-12, going 11-8 at No. 4 singles, while Ana Milosavljevic sits with record of 19-10, including 9-7 at No. 5 singles. Stephanie Kebler has claimed a record of 19-14, including a 9-4 mark at No. 3

SINGLES SUCCESS
The Spartans have a winning record at five of the six singles positions in dual-match play so far. By position, Christine Bader leads the team with 12 victories at No. 1.

DETERMING DOUBLES
Michigan State is 12-1 when winning the doubles point, compared to 0-8 when losing the doubles flights.

UP NEXT
Michigan State will compete at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by the Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. First-round action is set to begin on Thursday, April 24.