April 6, 2008

Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The No. 70 Michigan State men's tennis team fell to No. 52 Iowa, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon in Iowa City. The Spartans struggled in singles after winning the early doubles point. Senior Adam Monich picked up the only win in singles for MSU at No. 4, defeating Reinould Haal in three sets, 7-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7).

Michigan State looked to control the match early, taking the Hawkeyes down in two of three doubles matches to earn the 1-0 lead. At No. 2, John Allare and Monich set the tone for the Spartans, with a dominating 8-2 victory over Iowa's Walker Grimes and Austen Kauss. At No. 3, Nick Rinks and Tyler Sauerbrey clinched the point for MSU, holding off Patrick Dwyer and Gregory Holm for an 8-5 win.

The Hawkeyes rebounded quickly in singles; however, taking the Spartans out in five of six matches. Iowa's Bart van Monsjou took out Rinks in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1, while MSU's No. 2 Forger was dropped by Christian Bierich, 6-1, 6-0. MSU's No. 3 Allare also had a tough day in singles, as he fell to J.P. Ritchie, 6-1, 6-2. At No. 5, Clark Richardson was defeated by Iowa's Tommy McGeorge, 6-1, 6-0, and Sauerbrey lost to Holm at No. 6, 6-4, 6-4.

"Well, it was a tough loss for us out there today," said MSU head coach Gene Orlando. "This just shows you the level of competition in the Big Ten. It's a battle every time you step onto the court. We came out and got the early 1-0 lead, but our singles play struggled a bit and we just couldn't rebound from some tough first-set losses."

Michigan State travels to State College, Pa., on Saturday, April 12 for a Big Ten matchup against No. 43 Penn State at 12 p.m.