Men's Tennis Begins Season at ITA Regionals

Oct. 19, 2016

EAST LANSING, Mich. â€" The Michigan State men's tennis team will head to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the ITA Midwest Regionals beginning on Thursday, Oct. 20.

The Spartans season began over 50 days ago, over that time they have been preparing and patiently waiting for the fall competition to officially begin. This week the players worked on things they needed to work on individually. They have done a lot of work up front, and they tailored this week for the players to be laid back and prepared for this tournament.

"We have had quite a few practices leading up to this," said head coach Gene Orlando. "We have done everything we can, and have accomplished and covered everything we wanted to during that time. We have had a lot of scrimmages and practice set pieces in these past 50 days, and this week we wanted them to focus on them and feel comfortable."

Michigan State is welcoming back junior Brett Forman, who is coming off of a year-long injury. Forman will be playing in the main draws on Friday, Oct. 21, against Dave Bacalla from Valparasio.

"It's great to have Brett back in the lineup, he's a big part of the program, and we need him to lead," said Orlando. "Now that we have him healthy, he will helps us lead on the court and help us be better. He will help us get the confidence we need as a whole unit."

Forman isn't the only returning upperclassman, junior Jasper Koenen and junior Michael Dube are also participating in this weekends ITA Regionals. Koenen will begin the weekend on Friday, Oct. 21, at the main draw against Charlie Emhardt from Valparasio. Dube will also start the weekend at the main draws against Kyle Seeling from Ohio State.

"We have Jasper and Michael who have been waiting to lead the past few years," said Orlando. They know what the journey entails and what needs to be done. We want them to kick off the season right, and we want to see them start off with success."

MSU has a handful of sophomores and a freshman that will help mold the Michigan State men's tennis program. Sophomore Ivan Rakic, sophomore Colin Harvey, sophomore Alexander Kim, and sophomore Billy Shisler will also be making the trip for the Spartans. The four athletes will begin their weekend competition on Thursday, Oct. 20, in the qualifying rounds.

"This is a strong tournament, we are playing with the best of the best," said Orlando. "We are taking this as a learning experience, it's going to be tough rounds from the very beginning and we are going to have to be ready to play our best in order to have success."

At the conclusion of the weekend, results will be posted to msuspartans.com.