Michigan State University
Bradley
MSU Men's Tennis Defeats Bowling Green, Bradley
3/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 16, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 62 Michigan State men's tennis team returned home from its Louisiana spring trip to post back-to-back wins over Bowling Green, 5-2, and Bradley, 7-0, Saturday (March 16).
Bowling Green (9-7 overall) came out strong in doubles. The Falcons, one of the Mid-American Conference favorites, won at No. 1 and 2 doubles to pick up the first point over the Spartans (11-5). Michigan State's Jimmy McGuire (Columbus, Ohio) and Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) had two chances on their serve at 7-6 and 8-7 to win at No. 1, but Vitek Wild and Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo broke each time and went on to win the tiebreaker and the match, 9-8(3).
But Spartan head coach Gene Orlando rallied his troops and his players responded. Simonton, junior Goran Topalo (Prague, Czech Republic) and freshmen Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Cameron Marshall (Louisville, Ky.) all won in two sets for four team points, clinching the match. Marshall's win was his 20th of the season. After splitting sets at No. 4 singles, McGuire and Joel Carney, along with their coaches, agreed to play a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set. With the lead switching back and forth, McGuire saved two match points on his way to a 6-4, 6-7(8), 1-0(13-11) victory, giving the Spartans a 5-2 win.
"I took the guys outside for a change of environment (after losing the doubles point)," said Orlando. "The whole week we didn't feel like we had something to prove. I just got on the guys and told them it comes down to all of us as a team. We're not taking control when we are favored. But it is part of the growing process."
Michigan State added some fresh legs to its lineup against Bradley (4-9). MSU's doubles teams only gave up five total games to the Braves for the opening point and the momentum continued into singles. Simonton, juniors Adam Hourani (Lansing, Mich.) and Todd Townsend (East Lansing, Mich.), sophomores Mike Hodge (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Mike Jonckheere (London, Ont.) and freshman Anthony Stefani (Grosse Point Shores, Mich.) all won easily for the 7-0 sweep.
"We were more aggressive in singles today," said Orlando. "It's good to be winning. The last three weeks, we've been more of the favorites, so now we are opening new doors. We're not used to being in that position so we have to gain confidence."
The Spartans return to their Big Ten schedule Friday, March 22 when they travel to No. 51 Wisconsin.
Saturday's Results Against Bowling GreenDoublesNo. 1 Lopez-Acevedo/Wild (BGSU) def. McGuire/Simonton (MSU) 9-8(3)No. 2 Bliss/Jirout (BGSU) def. Hourani/Mitchell (MSU) 8-6No. 3 Jonckheere/Topalo (MSU) def. Carney/Kossoff (BGSU) 8-4
SinglesNo. 1 Vitek Wild (BGSU) def. Chris Mitchell (MSU) 7-6(9), 6-2No. 2 Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) def. Milos Jirout (BGSU) 6-3, 6-4No. 3 Goran Topalo (MSU) def. Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (BGSU) 6-4, 6-2No. 4 Jimmy McGuire (MSU) def. Joel Carney (BGSU) 6-4, 6-7(8), 1-0(13-11)No. 5 Eric Simonton (MSU) def. Ian Bliss (BGSU) 6-4, 6-2No. 6 Cameron Marshall (MSU) def. Mike Kossoff (BGSU) 6-4, 6-1Michigan State defeats Bowling Green, 5-2
Saturday's Results Against BradleyDoublesNo. 1 Hodge/Jonckheere (MSU) def. Olswing/Martin (BRA) 8-2No. 2 Formanczyk/Marshall (MSU) def. Craigen/Panzic (BRA) 8-1No. 3 Stefani/Townsend (MSU) def. Walz/Roebuck (BRA) 8-2
Singles No. 1 Eric Simonton (MSU) def. Marijon Panzic (BRA) 6-2, 6-0No. 2 Mike Hodge (MSU) def. Paul Craigen (BRA) 6-2, 7-6(7)No. 3 Adam Hourani (MSU) def. Bret Martin (BRA) 6-0, 6-1No. 4 Mike Jonckheere (MSU) def. Mike Walz (BRA) 6-0, 6-0No. 5 Anthony Stefani (MSU) def. Andrew Olswing (BRA) 6-1, 6-2No. 6 Todd Townsend (MSU) def. Scott Roebuck (BRA) 6-1, 6-4Michigan State defeats Bradley, 7-0
