Michigan State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Renews Rivalry With Notre Dame Tuesday
3/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 1, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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This Week For The SpartansNotre Dame March 2 3:30 p.m. Away
No. 47 Michigan State Spartans
(11-2 Overall, 0-0 Big Ten)
Head coach: Gene Orlando
Career (16th Season): 181-212
MSU (13th): 150-172
No. 43 University of Notre Dame
(7-5 Overall, 1-1 Big East)
Head coach: Bobby Bayliss
This week for the Fighting Irish:
Tue. vs. Michigan State; Thu-Sun. @ Pacific Coast Doubles
in La Jolla, Calif.; Sun. vs. St. Joseph's in La Jolla, Calif.
NEXT IN LINE: No. 47 Michigan State hits the road for its first match on an opponent's home court Tuesday when it travels to South Bend, Ind., to take on No. 43 Notre Dame. The battle will be State's fifth time this season it will have faced a higher-ranked team as the Spartans are 2-2 in those matches in 2004.
NOTRE DAME'S RESUME: The Fighting Irish bring a 7-5 record into the week as well as a national ranking of No. 43. They have already played six Big Ten teams this season, defeating Indiana (6-1), Purdue (5-2), Wisconsin (5-2) and Northwestern (5-2) but fell to Illinois (7-0) and Ohio State (4-3). UND currently holds a three-match losing streak as it dropped contests to Illinois, OSU and Miami (Fla.) in a four-day span. Its only other two losses came to then-No. 9 Texas A&M and then-No. 8 Duke. Luis Haddock and Matthew Scott head the singles lineup while there have been four different doubles combinations at each of the three postition for the Irish.
LAST TIME OUT: Michigan State picked up two big wins Feb. 28, defeating No. 65 Ball State, 5-2, and UW-Green Bay, 6-1. Every match against the Cardinals was very competitive and BSU opened the scoring by taking two of three doubles matches for the first point. However, the Spartans put up five points in singles play to knock off BSU. Michigan State then cruised past the Phoenix, sweeping the doubles matches while losing only one singles match.
BECOMING ONE OF THE BEST: Head coach Gene Orlando has been putting together some of MSU's finest seasons the past three years and even though it is only the beginning of March, the 2004 campaign is proving to be no different. With two more victories last Saturday, State's 11-2 record is the program's best start since 1961 when it also began 11-2 (that team eventually started 13-2). Meanwhile, Orlando, who is in his 13th season with MSU, now has recorded double-digit wins in 10 seasons. Stan Drobac holds the mark for having at least 10 wins as he accomplished the feat a total of 12 times when he coached the Spartans for 32 years (1958-1989).
SPRINGING AHEAD: Junior Anthony Stefani has been very solid at the No. 5 and 6 singles positions in 2004. Though posting a 2-7 record in fall tournaments, Stefani has put together a 7-0 record in dual-matches and now holds a 9-7 overall mark.
REGIONAL SUCCESS: Although Notre Dame will be Michigan State's toughest regional opponent of the year, the Spartans have gone 10-0 against teams in the Midwest Region so far, including a 4-3 win over then-No. 52 Louisville as well as last week's 5-2 triumph over Ball State.
