Men's Tennis to Host Big Ten Indoor Tournament
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 29, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
The Michigan State men's tennis team will host the Big Ten Indoors beginning Friday, Oct. 30 through Monday Nov. 2, at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility and the MAC. Doubles play will begin Friday at 9 a.m., singles rounds will be played Saturday and Sunday beginning at 8 a.m. The semi-final and final rounds of both doubles and singles will be played Monday starting at 9 a.m.
The Lineup
Head coach Gene Orlando enters his 19th year at the helm of the men's program. After finishing the 2008-09 season with a record of 12-14, the Spartans will look to build upon that as they prepare for the 2009-10 season.
Orlando will rely on his six returnees from last season, while also looking for contributions from his four newcomers. The Spartans will seek leadership from the top, relying on their two returning seniors, Jason Norville (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Brendan Kinkopf (Cleveland, Ohio). Kinkopf finished the 2008-09 season with an unblemished singles record of 4-0 during spring action, while Norville recorded 14 overall doubles wins. Adding depth to the lineup are juniors John Stratton (Monroeville, N.J.) and Clark Richardson (Leawood, Kan.) along with sophomores Ronnie Hulewicz (Tequesta, Fla.) and Austin Brooks (Houston, Texas). Combined, the juniors accounted for 20 singles wins, while the sophomores contributed another 46.
Joining the Spartans this season will be freshman Denis Bogatov (Gurnee, Ill.), Will Davis (Louisville, Ky.) and Christian Roehmer (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.), while senior Joe Vallee (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) joins the MSU roster as a transfer from Ball State.
Last Time Out
The Spartans last traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. where they competed in ITA Midwest Regional tournament. Seven members from the Green and White competed at the ITA's. Three Spartans advanced to the second day of qualifying play and two advanced to the main draw.
After winning two rounds of qualifying matches each, Stratton, Brooks and Davis advanced to the second day of qualifying play for MSU.
Stratton defeated Detroit opponent, David Stabley, 6-1, 6-0, and then outlasted Jon Polenac of DePaul in a three-set match, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Brooks received a bye in the first round, automatically advancing him to the qualifying round were he posted a win over Chris Klepatz of Cleveland State, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1), to continue on to Friday's action.
Davis also received a bye and claimed a close victory over Terence Weigand of Toledo, 7-5, 7-5, to advance on for the Green and White.
Stratton, Davis and Brooks all fell in the third round of qualifying play leaving Bogatov and Hulewicz, who were both previously seeded as the only two to represent the Spartans in the main draw.
Hulewicz lost to Balasz Novak of Ohio State, 6-1, 6-1, and Bogatov fell 6-2, 6-0, to Denis Nevelo of Illinois in the first round.
Big Ten Indoors
MSU last hosted the Big Ten Indoor Tournament during the 2005-06 season. MSU has played host to the tournament a total of five times since the 1996-97 season.
Ties with MSU
Former Spartan, Brad Dancer, is now entering his fifth season leading the Fighting Illini. Dancer played at MSU from 1990 to 1993.
For updated results on this weekend's action, please visit www.msuspartans.com.
Players Mentioned
