Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Continue Road Battles at Ball State and IUPUI
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's tennis continues its seven-game road stretch this weekend traveling to Ball State and IUPUI for a double-header on Saturday, Feb. 4. Michigan State will face Ball State at 12 p.m. before traveling to IUPUI for a 7 p.m. match.
"We have two big non-conference matches for our program this weekend against Ball State and IUPUI," said head coach Gene Orlando. "Road victories are always hard to come by and this weekend will be no different!"
The last time out against Clemson, Michigan State claimed the doubles point to start the match off with the 1-0 lead. Junior Brett Forman and sophomore Alexander Kim finished first at No. 3 doubles and dropped their contest 6-4 to Christian Harris and Daffra Sanon. At No. 1 singles, juniors Jasper Koenen and Michael Dube edged out their opponents 7-6. It came down to sophomore Billy Shisler and freshman Doug Francken who defeated Carlos Kelaidis and Robert Dudley 7-6 to claim the doubles point. Forman and sophomore Ivan Rakic both picked up singles victories in the Clemson match, but it wasn't enough in the 4-3 loss.
Ball State will enter this weekend with an overall mark of 1-3. Ball State is coming off of a 5-2 loss to Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. Although the Cardinals dropped the doubles point to the Hoosiers, the match was highlighted by Lucas Andersen who took the top court win in singles play over Raheel Manji 7-5, 6-2. Patrick Downs earned the second win for the Cardinals as he took down Hoosier Oliver Sec in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.
"Ball State has a great team and has played Indiana and Purdue close on the road this year. There is no doubt this match was circled on their calendar a year in advance. We are expecting their best, especially on their home courts. We look forward to the opportunity and taking our game to another level."
IUPUI is coming off of 5-4 loss to the University of Indianapolis on Feb. 1. After the loss, IUPUI dropped to 2-3 on the season. The match against Michigan State will be IUPUI's first home match of the 2017 spring season.
"We will conclude the day with a night match against IUPUI," said Orlando. "It's always a challenge playing a doubleheader but even more challenging doing it on the road. IUPUI plays a challenging schedule and they are young team and gaining experience."
Michigan State will continue its seven-game road adventure on Feb. 11 where it takes on Western Michigan and Chicago State in a doubleheader. The first match against Western will begin at 12 p.m. followed with the match against Chicago State at 7 p.m.
