MSU Prepares for No. 8 Texas

March 10, 2015

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Spartans (8-7) will be spending a good portion of their Spring Break in Texas, as they get ready to face the No. 8 Longhorns (11-1). The match is set for Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. local time (6 p.m. Eastern), and it will be the first match played outdoors this spring for Michigan State.

"We're having some great practices," head coach Gene Orlando said. "We're getting a feel for being outside."

Texas will be the ninth ranked opponent MSU will play this season, and the ninth road match for the Spartans.

"Texas is a solid program," Orlando said. "We're excited to have another opportunity to play another top 10 team."

Last Time Out
Michigan State was off last week, but hosted No. 44 Dartmouth and Youngstown State the weekend before.

The Spartans fell to Dartmouth, 4-2, and knocked off the Penguins, 6-0.

Brett Forman notched a win over Chris Kipouras, who was ranked No. 108 at the time. The pair of JP Mullane and Harry Jadun defeated Chris Kipouras and Dovydas Sakinis, who were top 20 in doubles.

What to Expect from the Texas Longhorns
Texas will be the ninth ranked opponent MSU has played this season. The Longhorns own wins over No. 12 North Carolina, No. 19 Wake Forest, No. 22 Minnesota, No. 23 Columbia, No. 24 Florida State, No. 29 Tulsa, No. 47 SMU, No. 48 Penn State, No. 59 Washington, No. 64 Arkansas and Rice. The only loss Texas has is to No. 10 Ohio State.

Texas has missed the NCAA Tournament twice since 1983.

In terms of rankings, Søren Hess-Oleson is No. 2, Lloyd Glasspool is No. 52 and Adrien Berkowicz is No. 60. Hess-Oleson and Glasspool are also ranked No. 35 in doubles.

Spartans in the Rankings Gijs Linders is ranked No. 123 in singles, and Mullane and Jadun are ranked No. 21 in doubles.

On the Double Michigan State has won 12 of its last 13 doubles points, and is 8-4 when it wins the doubles point.