Michigan State University
Big Ten Championships
Women's Tennis Bows Out At Big Ten Championships
4/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 24, 2003
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Michigan State women's tennis team fell in the first round of the Big Ten Championships to Wisconsin, 4-0, on Thursday (April 24) in Champaign, Ill., at the Grove Tennis Center. The 11th-seeded Spartans end their 2003 campaign with an 8-15 record overall and 0-11 Big Ten mark. The sixth-seeded Badgers (11-11, 6-5 Big Ten) will move on to face No. 3 seed Illinois (15-6, 8-2) at 1 p.m. on Friday (April 25).
Michigan State showed signs of improvement against the Badgers, who it fell to, 7-0 in the regular season finale Sunday (April 20) in Madison. Sophomore Keri Thompson (Clark Lake) was defeating Linda Mues, 6-1, 4-3 at the No. 1 singles spot when the match was abandoned after Wisconsin recorded its fourth point to secure the victory. Thompson fell to Mue last week, 6-2, 6-4. Junior Caroline Lay (Brisbane, Australia) was battling Shana McElroy at the No. 2 singles position and trailed 7-5, 3-0 when their match was abandoned. McElroy defeated Lay, 6-4, 6-3 last week.
Freshmen Shelley Brady (Grand Blanc) and Jean Willman (Alberton, Australia) looked to give the Spartans a boost. They had been sidelined for the past month and entered Thursday's match after only two or three days of practice. MSU experienced a season full of injuries, playing most of the season shuffling players around and missing four of its projected beginning of the season starters. Despite the setback the Spartans played competitively against many ranked opponents.
"I'm very proud of Shelley and Jean for trying to overcome their injuries and help the team pick up a win today," said head coach Tim Bauer. "They still aren't a hundred percent and showed their dedication to the team by playing today."
Lay and Thompson led the Spartans with 30 overall wins each on the season. Thompson paced the team in singles wins with 18 and led the team in overall Big Ten wins with nine. Lay guided the team in doubles wins with 16. As a doubles team, Lay and Thompson recorded a 9-8 spring record while playing every match at the No. 1 spot together. Three additional Spartans finished the season with at least 20 wins overall. Sophomore Kate Thomas (Long Beach, Calif.) had 23; Brady recorded 21 and sophomore Karen Gustafson (East Lansing) picked up 20 overall wins for MSU.
"Overall we are disappointed with our team record, but taking in account everything we've had to deal with this season I saw some incredible individual achievements. We've made some great strides individually," said Bauer.
Final Results
April 24, 2003Big Ten ChampionshipsGrove Tennis Center, Champaign, Ill.No. 6 seed Wisconsin defeats No. 11 seed Michigan State, 4-0
Singles1) Linde Mues (WIS) vs. Keri Thompson (MSU), 1-6, 3-4, abandoned2) Shana McElroy (WIS) vs. Caroline Lay (MSU), 7-5, 3-0, abandoned3) Katie McGaffigan (WIS) vs. Jean Willman (MSU), 6-3, 3-2, abandoned4) Lindsay Martin (WIS) def. Karen Gustafson (MSU), 6-2, 6-15) Lara Vojnov (WIS) def. Shelley Brady (MSU), 6-3, 6-16) Teresa Gonzaga (WIS) def. Kate Thomas (MSU), 6-2, 6-3
Doubles1) Mues/Martin (WIS) vs. Lay/Willman (MSU), 7-4, abandoned2) McElroy/Vojnov (WIS) def. Thompson/Brady (MSU), 8-23) McGaffigan/Gonzaga (WIS) def. Gustafson/Thomas (MSU), 8-0
Players Mentioned
