Spartans Face Two Big Ten Road Tests This Weekend

April 3, 2008

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Head Coach Gene Orlando

COMING UP
Michigan State goes on the road as it travels to Minneapolis, Minn., for a matchup with the Golden Gophers at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 4. The Spartans then take off for Iowa City, Iowa, as they are entertained by the No. 52 Hawkeyes on Sunday, April 6 at 11 a.m. Minnesota holds an edge of 38-16 over Michigan State in the all-time series dating back to 1951, while the Hawkeyes have a record of 32-25 against the Spartans since 1953.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State is coming off a 6-1 loss to No. 2 Ohio State last Sunday in East Lansing.

MSU came out looking flat in doubles competition, but picked it up mid-match and made comebacks at both No. 2 and No. 3. At No. 1, No. 59 Alex Forger and Billy Gardner were defeated by No. 29 Bryan Koniecko and Steven Moneke, 8-2. At No. 2, Adam Monich and John Allare were down, 5-2, and came back to tie it up, 8-8. The doubles duo then finished off Ohio State's Justin Kronauge and Shuhei Uzawa in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-2). At No. 3, MSU's Nick Rinks and Tyler Sauerbrey nearly completed their comeback attempt after falling behind, 6-1, but came up short in the tiebreaker, as they fell to Balazs Novak and Mike O'Connell, 9-8 (7-5).

The Buckeyes dominated singles play, taking five out of six matches in straight sets. MSU freshman Clark Richardson picked up the only singles win for the Spartans, downing O'Connell, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at No. 6

SCOUTING THE GOPHERS
Minnesota has struggled this season, as they started off the year ranked No. 41 in the nation, but have fallen out after a 2-14 (0-4 Big Ten) start. Rauol Shwark has the most wins in singles play for the Gophers, posting a 7-8 mark at No. 1. Dino Bilankov and Sebastian Gallego have gone 3-4 at No. 2 doubles.

A LOOK AT THE HAWKEYES
The Hawkeyes are 9-6 (1-3 Big Ten) on the season, but are coming of a 6-1 loss to No. 51 Penn State last Saturday. Bart van Monsjou leads the team in singles wins, going 11-4 at No. 1, while going 9-5 with J.P. Ritchie at No. 1 doubles.

KEY PLAYERS
The Spartans are now 11-8 on the season, and are ranked 70th in the latest national polls. Seniors Nick Rinks (14-3) and Adam Monich (12-5) have led the way for the Spartans in singles play. The doubles duo of Rinks and Monich is 11-0 in dual-match play, and currently ranked 12th in the nation.

DOMINATING SINGLES
The Spartans have a combined record of 43-14 at the No. 1, 3 and 4 positions in dual-match play, going 16-3 at No. 1, 13-6 at No. 3, and 14-5 at No. 4. Nick Rinks has played all of his matches at No. 1, going 14-3 so far. Junior John Allare holds a 8-5 record at No. 3, while Adam Monich is 2-0 at flight 3. Monich has posted a 9-5 record for the Spartans at No. 4, and recorded his first-career victory at No. 1 singles over Gabriel Garcia of IUPUI on Feb. 2.

ROAD WOES
The Spartans have a record of 1-6 on the road this season, compared to a 10-2 record in East Lansing.

WIN WATCH
Gene Orlando needs just two more victories to record his 200th win as head coach at Michigan State.

NEXT UP
Michigan State travels to University Park, Pa., for a matchup with No. 43 Penn State on Saturday, April 12 at 12 p.m.