Michigan State University
Ball State
Michigan State Men's Tennis Blanks Ball State, 7-0
2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 16, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's tennis team played host to the Ball State Cardinals at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing on Saturday. The Spartans used the momentum from a big doubles point to rattle off all six singles flights and dominate the Cardinals, 7-0.
MSU jumped out to an early lead against Ball State winning all three flights in a heated doubles competition. Ranked 30th in the nation, MSU's No. 1 Nick Rinks and Adam Monich extended their unbeaten streak to five games, clipping Jose Perdomo and Jorge Rodriguez in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-5). At No. 2, MSU's Alex Forger and Billy Gardner fought back to defeat Eduardo Pavia and Bret Berryman, 8-6, while John Allare and John Stratton took out Danny Vidal and Shaun Bussert at No. 3 doubles, 9-7.
In singles action, Stratton set the pace for the Spartans, downing Ball State's Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 5 singles. At No. 3, MSU's Allare looked dominating as he plowed through Joe Vallee, 6-2, 6-4, while Forger pulled out the win over Perdomo, 6-4, 6-2, in flight No. 2. Rinks fought back from a first set loss at No. 1 to defeat the Cardinals' Pavia, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 1-0 (10-4), extending his record to 9-1 on the year. It took two tiebreakers for Monich to finish off Ball State's Berryman at No. 4, 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2). At No. 6, MSU's Scott Rasmussen completed the sweep for the Spartans, as he pulled off a come-from-behind win against Jimmy Brannon, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-8).
"This match was a lot closer than the final results will indicate," said MSU head coach Gene Orlando. "The doubles matches really went the distance and we were fortunate to pull off all three. We knew we would have to battle against this team. Overall, I thought our guys handled the pressure well. This is a team that we needed to beat, and we handled the adversity today. Anytime you can get a win against Ball State it's an accomplishment, they are a good team. I'm proud of how our guys came out and fought today."
Michigan State returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 20, as they play host to Western Michigan at 6 p.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing.
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Players Mentioned
