Michigan State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Travels to Face Indiana, Purdue
3/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 24, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's tennis team continues its conference schedule this weekend, as it travels to Bloomington, Ind., to face the Hoosiers on Friday, March 25 at 2 p.m. ET, before heading to West Lafayette for a match-up with Purdue on Sunday, March 27 at 12 p.m. ET. The Spartans opened up conference play last week at home against No. 16 Michigan where they fell, 6-1. With a 13-2 record, MSU is currently ranked No. 44 in the weekly ITA polls.
Sophomore Denis Bogatov has represented the Green and White at No. 1 singles, posting a 7-4 overall record in dual matches and a 6-3 overall doubles record. Freshman Aaron Pfister kept his perfect singles record alive last week, despite the team's loss to Michigan, and is now 12-0 in dual matches. Juniors Austin Brooks and Ronnie Hulewicz have been consistent in the No. 2 and 3 singles spots, respectively. Brooks has gone 8-4 while Hulewicz has posted a 9-2 record. Senior John Stratton has also posted a 9-2 mark in singles play, with his only losses coming against No. 25 Notre Dame and No. 16 Michigan.
Stratton paired with fellow senior Jason Norville in last week's dual match and recorded an impressive 8-6 victory over Jung and Bernstein of Michigan. The tandem is now 9-4 in dual match doubles play, with seven of the wins coming at the No. 1 position. Freshman Drew Lied has also been a consistent presence in doubles play for the Spartans, earning a total of six victories in the No. 1 and 2 slots.
Indiana enters the weekend with a record of 13-4 and a No. 32 ranking in the ITA weekly polls. The only losses for Hoosiers have been against ranked opponents, where they hold an even 4-4 record. Jeremy Langer has represented the Hoosiers in the No. 1 spot, posting a 10-7 record with a victory over No. 67 Purdue. Langer has paired with Santiago Gruter in doubles and recorded a 14-3 mark with wins over No. 30 Oklahoma, No. 14 Kentucky and No. 3 Southern California.
Purdue comes into weekend play with 9-5 record and a No. 67 ranking in the ITA polls. Krisztian Krocsko has rotated between the No. 1 and 2 positions in dual matches, posting a 6-8 record, including a win over No. 45 New Mexico. Symon Tatarczyk has been the other representative for the Boilermakers at the top of the singles lineup, winning seven matches in the No. 1, 2 and 3 positions.
The Spartans continue action next weekend when they return home to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, April 2 at 12 p.m. ET followed by a match-up with Wisconsin on Sunday, April 3 also at 12 p.m. Et.
Players Mentioned
