Michigan State University
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Western Mich
Men's Tennis Splits Home Doubleheader
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 20, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 52 Michigan State's men's tennis team fell to No. 66 Western Michigan Saturday, March 20, but rebounded to knock off IPFW, 7-0. State's record moved to 13-5 heading into Big Ten regular season action next weekend.
Emotions were running high in doubles play in what has arguably become MSU's fiercest non-conference rivalry. Senior Chris Mitchell (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and junior Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.) were the first to finish at No. 2 when Formanczyk held serve for an 8-6 victory over Brady Crosby and Tommy Dennis. Meanwhile at No. 3, WMU double-faulted on break point to give junior Anthony Stefani (Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.) and sophomore Mike Brown (Portage, Mich.) an 8-7 lead over Dan Grupp and Jose Orozco. With Stefani serving at 40-30, Brown put away a backhand volley to give State the doubles point, 9-7. Unfortunately at No. 1, senior Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) and junior Cameron Marshall (Louisville, Ky.) could not secure the sweep as Jeff French and Ravi Pathanjali held off three MSU match points in a tiebreaker to come back and win the match, 9-8(8).
The Broncos (12-3 overall, 1-0 MAC), however, dominated singles play early by picking up five unanswered points, four via straight sets, to take a 5-1 lead as well as the overall win. Mitchell managed State's only singles point by edging Orozco at No. 3, 7-6(3), 7-6(4). The triumph improved his overall record to 14-11 on the year. Simonton was the only other Spartan to win a set, taking the second over Crosby at No. 4 in a three-set loss, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Formanczyk and freshman Joseph McWilliams (Aurora, Ill.) also had chances to force a third set in their matches. Both dropped their respective first sets but were on serve late in the second and had some momentum. WMU, though, proved to be too strong by grabbing late breaks of serve and went to win each match. The Spartans came into the day 11-0 when winning the doubles point and it was also the first time State had fallen to a team that was either unranked or claimed a lower ranking.
Michigan State regained its focus and dismantled IPFW in both doubles and singles. The duos of Marshall and Simonton, Brown and Stefani and McWilliams with junior Josh Efros (West Bloomfield, Mich.) all came out victorious in doubles play for the first overall point. Mitchell shined in singles as the senior co-captain posted a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 over Carlos Gonzalez, marking the first time he had not given up a game in his collegiate career.
Formanczyk, Brown, Stefani, Flowers and Efros only needed two sets as well to capture singles victories for the Green and White.
MSU's Big Ten schedule gets underway March 27 and 28 when it travels to Ohio State and Penn State, respectively. Both matches are set to begin at 12 p.m.
Saturday's Results Against Western MichiganDoublesNo. 1 French/Pathanjali (WMU) def. Marshall/Simonton (MSU) 9-8(8)No. 2 Formanczyk/Mitchell (MSU) def. Crosby/Dennis (WMU) 8-6No. 3 Brown/Stefani (MSU) def. Grupp/Orozco (WMU) 9-7SinglesNo. 1 Ravi Pathanjali (WMU) def. #63 Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) 6-4, 6-4No. 2 Tommy Dennis (WMU) def. Cameron Marshall (MSU) 6-1, 6-3No. 3 Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Jose Orozco (WMU) 7-6(3), 7-6(4)No. 4 Brady Crosby (WMU) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2No. 5 Justin Kates (WMU) def. Joseph McWilliams (MSU) 6-3, 7-5No. 6 Diego Campello (WMU) def. Michael Flowers (MSU) 6-2, 6-0No. 66 Western Michigan defeats No. 52 Michigan State, 5-2Records: MSU 12-5 overall, 0-0 Big Ten WMU 12-3 overall, 1-0 MACOrder of Finish: Doubles 2, 3, 1 Singles 6, 2, 1, 5, 4, 3Length of Match: 3:25Weather: Indoors
Saturday's Results Against IUPU-Fort WayneDoublesNo. 1 Marshall/Simonton (MSU) def. Jackson/Parker (IPFW) 8-1No. 2 Brown/Stefani (MSU) def. Gonzalez/Orr (IPFW) 8-3No. 3 Efros/McWilliams (MSU) def. Leonhardt/Nikho (IPFW) 8-4SinglesNo. 1 #63 Andrew Formanczyk (MSU) def. Michael Parker (IPFW) 6-1, 6-4No. 2 Chris Mitchell (MSU) def. Carlos Gonzalez (IPFW) 6-0, 6-0No. 3 Mike Brown (MSU) def. Ian Leonhardt (IPFW) 6-0,6-2No. 4 Anthony Stefani (MSU) def. Jessy Nikho (IPFW) 6-1, 6-1No. 5 Michael Flowers (MSU) def. Ryan Orr (IPFW) 6-4, 7-6(7)No. 6 Josh Efros (MSU) def. Daniel Jackson (IPFW) 6-3, 6-2No. 52 Michigan State defeats IPFW, 7-0Records: MSU 13-5 overall, 0-0 Big Ten IPFW 3-5 overall, 0-0 MACOrder of Finish: Doubles 1, 3, 2 Singles 3, 4, 6, 2, 1, 5Length of Match: 2:40Weather: Indoors
