Women's Tennis Faces Detroit Mercy And Cleveland State

Jan. 18, 2006

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The women's tennis team will play host to Detroit Mercy and Cleveland State this Sunday, Jan. 22 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The Spartans (1-1) will start the day facing Detroit Mercy at 10 a.m., and then play Cleveland State at 4 p.m. Both the Titans and Vikings have yet to play matches this spring.

Michigan State is coming off a weekend where it opened the season in Nashville, Tenn., with a victory over Montana State, 7-0. The following day the Spartans dropped their next match to No. 8 Vanderbilt, 0-7.

"I think Detroit is overall a better team than they were last year, and last year Cleveland State played a great match against us," said coach Tim Bauer. "They brought a lot of energy and really stepped up to play us. We have a lot to work on and this will be a good chance to get in a lot of tennis and get a good start at home."

A Return Home

Cleveland State women's tennis is coached by Brian Etzkin, a former assistant to the men's tennis team at Michigan State. Etzkin coached in East Lansing for two years before heading to Cleveland State to coach the men's and women's tennis teams.

Scouting the Competition

Cleveland State will open its spring season against the Dayton Flyers in Dayton, Ohio, on Jan. 21 before playing the Spartans. The Vikings have a young team that boasts three sophomores and two freshmen, with no seniors. Freshman Kristen Chamberlain and sophomores Jen Myers and Christine Vogelgesang led the Vikings in the fall season with records of 2-1. Chamberlain also teamed with junior Morgan Ungerott to go 3-1 in doubles action this fall.

The Titans also have a young team that consists of four freshmen, three sophomores and one junior. Detroit Mercy will open its spring season with the Spartans. MSU and the Titans crossed paths in the fall season, however. At the Yonex Spartan Cup, sophomore Christine Bader (Okemos, Mich.) defeated freshman Aneta Maricevic in straight sets. Freshman Marianne Eelens (Noord, Aruba) and junior Pascale Schnitzer (Santiago, Chile) were also successful in their matches against Detroit Mercy at the Spartan Cup. The only Titan victory over Michigan State in the fall season came when freshman Annie Moore defeated junior Sarah Andrews (Darwin, Australia) in three sets at the ITA Fall Regional.

The Spartans will continue their homestand on Jan. 27 and 28 when they face the Eagles of Eastern Michigan and the Falcons of Bowling Green.